What Is The Best Weed Killer For Gravel, Driveways & Paths 2025: Reviews & Buyers Guide

We all know that there’s a ton of different weed killers on the market today… so before you go drop a dime on just any old weed killer or take the advice of some large department store where the salesman can’t tell you the difference between pre or post-emergent then this post is just for you.

Here are a couple of things to consider when looking for the best weed killer for gravel…

…do you want to just kill the weeds in ya gravel driveway or path or you’ve got weeds in other places that need attention?

Have you got pavers… do you have weeds growing there?

How about weeds in lawn? You got and clover, crabgrass, dandelions floating around the grass.

Do you want to blanket spray or just spot spry will be all ok

Are you a conservationist and want to use a natural weed killer like this vinegar weed killer or you want to go down the DIY vinegar weed killer path.

How to choose the best weed killer for gravel.

If you really just want to kill weeds around the place pretty much any weed killer will do the job.

Roundup, Compare-N-Save Concentrate Grass, Spectracide HG-96017, vinegar, and the list goes on.

And while most of the top named stuff does work, take Roundup. It kills the weeds for sure, and cause it’s not selective, whatever you spray it, will die and that includes your lawn, plants and anything that gets a dose of the stuff.

So, if you’re going to buy a weedkiller why limit it to just able to spray areas like driveways, gravel areas, pavers, concrete paths, etc.

Makes sense yer… so grab one that you can use on your lawn, or in your garden beds and anywhere else these little suckers pop their heads out.

If you don’t care and all ya want is a gravel weed killer than here’s our top choices.

What To Look For When Buying Weed Killer

There’s are a variety of things that separates weed killers from each other.

Weed killers come in different types:

For you just want to kill weeds and don’t care what then any of the top brand broadleaf herbicides will do the trick:

DIY Weed Killer With Vinegar

For those who like to use natural household ingredients and into making your own then this 3 part vinegar remedy is for you.

Making your own weed killer from vinegar isn’t hard.

Where most go wrong is simply by using the wrong type.

Common household vinegar just won’t cut the mustard here. Vinegar kills weeds from its acidity so the higher it is the better it kills.

You want at least 20% and something like Shine vinegar at 30% is ideal. You can go even 45% like Calyptus pure vinegar

You’ll also need salt and washing dish liquid. Just common salt like Epsom salt or table salt is fine. You can get all the details and direction with the measurements to make a 1/2 gallon vinegar weed killer mix here.

Pros

  • Cheap and easy to make from the home
  • Will kill just about anything it’s sprayed on
  • Safe to use with animals/kid around

Cons

  • Isn’t selective and will kill or make sick just about everything that you spray it on.
  • Not recommended to use on the lawn unless you like dead spots everywhere

How To Kill Weeds And Grass In A Gravel Driveway

Being able to control weeds is the secret of having a nice looking lawn. I’ve shown you a few different products you can use that works very well.

Products like Tenacity herbicide which is a commercial herbicide that kills over 40 different weeds are ideal not only to kill weeds in your lawn but also gravel driveways and gardens.

The process is the same as spot spraying weeds in your lawn as to doing your driveway and even those weeds that pop up in between pavers and cracks.

If you want to go with a more organic method, you can try the old tried and tested homemade weed killer with vinegar.

I’ve been using and testing this natural weed control method for quite a while. It does give you some great results and it is a method that you have to keep applying.

From what I know an see, it doesn’t kill every weed down to the roots, but if you keep going on it and spray em regularly it will certainly give them a hard time.

How to kill weeds in a gravel driveway

You can most certainly use this 3 ingredient homemade weed killer for graveled driveways, concrete and paver cracks, just about anywhere.

One of the problems you must be aware of tho is it will kill your grass.

The formula we make here will kill just about anything that you will spray it on, yes including your lawn.

So if you want to use this as a weed controller on your grass, you’ll more than likely kill your grass as well as the weed.

So this does put some limitations but for spot spraying garden beds or weeds in the driveway or gravel is fine.

By using household items its safe to be used around kids and pets won’t be effected or cause any harm to them.

How to make this 3 ingredient homemade weed killer

To make this 3 ingredient homemade weed killer you will need the following 3 ingredients

  1. Vinegar
  2. Salt
  3. Dishwashing soap

Now this is where most people go wrong. They just go to the kitchen cupboard, grab out whatever vinegar they’ve got in the cupboard, make up a mix.

After spraying it around and waiting after a few days to see no change, then say it doesn’t work.

The reason is:

Vinegar has an acidic measurement and the higher it is the better it works on weeds. Most common household brands have around 5% acidity as you can see from the image.

What we want is a higher acidity vinegar and the one I use and recommend which has 30% acidity is this one.

 

30% Vinegar

Mixing this sucker is pretty easy and you can either mix it in a bucket or container or straight into your sprayer.

We’re going to make enough mix to make 1/2 a gallon worth so make sure you’re container is big enough.

With the vinegar you’ll need around 2 qt or 1/2 a gallon.

Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the salt and then around 1 tablespoon of washing up liquid.

Any household salt and washing up liquid will work with it. It’s the vinegar is the key to this recipe.

Once you’ve got it all mixed then you are good to go.

You should start seeing results in as little as an hour like the images below.

And within 24 hours expect them to be looking pretty 2nd hand to almost dead.

how to kill weeds in gravel driveway

Now just remember where ever you spray this it will kill, so be mindful of that and don’t start spraying weed in your lawn or you’ll be killing it too.

Using a homemade weed killer like this vinegar weed killer recipe at times won’t fully kill the weed itself and you will need to do some following up spray.

But if you want to know how to kill weeds in gravel driveway for once and for all then a herbicide like Tenacity could be your better option.

Tenacity is a commercial herbicide that is used throughout the country on golf courses and professionals alike.

Unlike the vinegar weed control formula Tenacity can be used on your lawn and it won’t kill it.

Can be used as a pre and post-emergent control. There are a few extra steps you need to do when mixing it up but you can get the full laydown in this article here.

How To Kill Weeds In Rocks

If you’ve got weeds poking through your rock garden… unwanted grass or weeds in your gravel driveway or path… if you’re just starting out, laying rocks or setting out your gravel path and want a pre-emergent herbicide then this article is just for you.

Hey guys, in this post I’m going to give you a couple of different ways and options on some of the best ways to kill weeds in rocks, or you gravel drive/pathways and using a DIY vinegar weed killer and using tenacity, one of the best commercial herbicides on the market today.

Tenacity Herbicide: The Best Pre-Emergent Weed Killer For Rocks

One of the best things, why I love tenacity weed killer so much, is the flexibility that it works with. Tenacity can be used for both as a pre-emergent and post-emergent weed control system.

And being a selective herbicide it only targets the selected broadleaf weeds and grasses its designed for, and it won’t kill your lawn.

How to use tenacity as pre-emergent

To use tenacity as a pre-emergent you want to blanket spray the area you’re going to create the rock garden. Once you’ve sprayed the selected area you’ll want to lay either paper down or a weed resistant fabric something similar to this stuff.

This stuff is pretty concentrated so you only need a little to make a mix. For instance:

  • 1 teaspoon of tenacity, makes 2 gallons of weed control
  • 1/2 teaspoon makes 1 gallon and so on.

A full 8oz bottle with get you around 2 acres of blanket spray so yer, its pretty concentrated stuff and a little bit goes a long way.

Tenacity is a little dearer than other weed herbicides and that is because it’s a selective herbicide and the best weed killer that won’t kill your lawn.

How to use tenacity as post-emergent

Using tenacity as a post-emergent requires an extra step when mixing your batch. It’s highly recommended to use a surfactant like this one.

It increases your results and get a better success rate compared to not using a surfactant as it helps the herbicide to stick to the leaves and not just run off when sprayed.

Mixing is the same process and always follow the ratios that are labeled on the container.

Spot spraying or post-emergent spraying can be done pretty much anytime when you see weeds start popping up.

And since Tenacity is a selective herbicide its been named as one of the best weed killers that won’t kill your lawn.

Selective Weed Killer

Tenacity Herbicide

tenacity herbicideTenacity herbicide has been used by professionals and golf course and finally released for residential use.

Formulated to kill over 40 different broadleaf weeds and not only will kill the weeds in the gravel but can be used to treat weeds in your lawn and not kill the grass.

Can be used as both pre or post-emergent

Tenacity is very effective on:

and many more. You can read the full list as well as get the label here.

Pros

  • Works on 40+ different broadleaf weeds.
  • Use on Kentucky Bluegrass, Centipedegrass, Buffalograss, see here for the complete list
  • Shelf life of 3-5 yrs
  • 1- 80z bottle will yield you around 2 acres of blanket spray.

Cons

  • Tenacity isn’t a ready mixed herbicide and you need to use a surfactant and due to the chemical being clear a color dye is recommended to use in the mix to see where you have sprayed.
  • More expensive up front but cheaper in the long run
  • Its slow actions will take 2 to 3 weeks to fully see the results

Non-selective weedkiller

For an all-round non-selective weed killer its hard to go past any of the top products like:

Non-selective will kill just about anything it’s sprayed on. Ease of use most non commercial range is available already pre-mixed and ready to just spay out.

Using a non-selective weed killer is a smart choice if your not sure what weeds you’re attacking. Don’t forget that it will kill the lawn and other plants that make contact with it.

Non-selective herbicides are best used for spot treatment and small infestations, you wouldn’t want to spay when there’s bit wind floating around too.

Conclusion…

There are so many types of weed killers and so many brands to go along with it that it can be an overwhelming decision to choose just one. Hopefully, this article has helped ease that decision a bit for you.

For us, one of our favorite weed killers that we have reviewed, and the winner of this roundup is the Tenacity Herbicide.

Tenacity can be used for both pre and post-emergent and the versatility of Tenacity herbicide allows for just about every common household weed to be used as weed control.

This is why we’ve selected Tenacity herbicide is our top choice weed killer. You can use it on your grass to kill dandelions, crabgrass, clover and 40 other common broadleaf weeds as well the weeds in your gravel as both pre and post-treatment.

Tenacity can prevent the weeds from growing by using as a pre-emergent weed control. When the time to treat, just make a mix and spray the pavers, patio, driveway and the herbicide will soak into the gaps and prevent weed growth.

You can also use the same mix down the track and treat any weeds that come through as a post-emergent control.

tenacity best price