Did you put down weed block fabric under your 1A? That would be the key to keeping out grass under gravel.

Have you done any research on 'organic' grass killers? There may be stuff that is not super corrosive to steel like calcium chloride.

Have you looked into asphalt millings? When they mill roads in preparation for repaving, the millings can be available. Spread them like stone and then maybe rent a plate compactor and a teenager for the weekend to back them down solid.

 

I did not put weed block fabric down. I have used it around the farm in other places and it seems like it doesn't work that good. Lousy weeds seem to grow in anything around here. I will do some searching to see what turns up regarding the weed fabric though. I only tried some general searching for weed control on equipment lots which turned up nothing. I also tried searching for organic weed control and didn't find much except for salt and calcium chloride but that was a while ago.

The asphalt millings might be a good solution I did think of that as they used that on our road but that was like 25 years ago but it was great on the road for a long time but eventually some areas have gotten plagued by pot holes. I'll have to research where I might get some though. I have some time before I need to come up with a plan I have to remove some trees where I want to make my lot bigger near my pole barn to put some things all in one location.

edit: regarding the asphalt millings I remember and actually video taped some of it when they where doing our road they had some crazy looking machine, it was big, I think they may have mixed the millings with hot tar or asphalt or something when they where laying it down. No way I would be able to do that but still just spreading it and compacting it might be good enough.

 

[;Pramitol if you can still buy it. supposedly it’s what the railroads use to keep tracks wd free

 

Simazine is wonderful stuff, is it just California or is it hard to get everywhere? Only small amounts allowed in permeant tree crops and vines here. I have not found a replacement that works for me. But unlike ,Roundup it did not effect flower bulbs or rose bushes. If I got to close to the house.

 

I'm thinking now maybe I will do a solid base of 1a modified followed by a heavy duty commercial weed barrier(if it's not too cost prohibitive) and a couple inches of clean stone on top. Then I guess there are plenty of options to kill anything that sprouts up. Was even thinking of steam, I always wanted a steam cleaner, hit any weeds early as soon as any start to pop up in the spring then once or twice during the summer maybe. I have tried in the past burning weeds with one of those propane weed killers but the smoke always seemed to want to get in my face and eyes. But I was trying to kill a lot of weeds in a ditch then but it did work good. If none of that pans out I'll have to spray with the Pramitol which does seem widely available, I'll look into the Simazine as well. Some of the lot is going to be only about 15 feet away from a horse pasture though.

 

If you know of anyone who works for the power company, ask them what they use in their substation yards. They are usually gravel lots with zero vegetation to reduce the risk of fire.

I see a lot of "home remedies" that include vinegar and salt. Not sure how well it works.