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How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals

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If you have a brick patio and are sick of those nasty weeds then you must try this solution! There is a way to get rid of patio weeks without using chemicals.

A few years ago, we restructured our brick patio and added more bricks to it. Little did we realize that even though we used plastic sheeting under the bricks, weeds would find a home there regardless of the precautions we took. 

Does your patio look like this? Aren’t you tired of pulling weeds? Well, here’s the perfect chemical-free solution! 

patio weeds in between patio bricks

Finally, Get Rid Of Those Nasty Weeds!

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You can be weed-free within a few short hours! We even had to pull weeds in the winter too. It was nuts! 

This is what we had to deal with constantly! We really wanted to avoid using chemicals. They never work and have serious consequences too. We knew there had to be a better way and of course, there was! Paver/Patio sand – yep, it was that simple. 

The best part is you can use sand anyplace where you have unwanted weeds! It’s not just for patio use. We even used this patio/paver sand in the garden around flowers and shrubs! As you can see below, we even had moss growing in between the bricks. It was a mess! 

How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals

We tried everything and weed killer was not the solution. It’s bad for the earth and not good for humans either (there are claims that Roundup causes Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma). We finally found a healthier way to tackle those nasty weeds and get rid of them for good. They were growing like crazy in between the bricks and making us flipping mad! 

After digging up all the weed, and making sure there wasn’t a trace left, we used patio/paver sand to finally get rid of them! 

You can pick the sand up at any of your local hardware stores. It’s the best way to fight those nasty weeds without using chemicals and this is the type we used. You can also buy single bags of it as well. 

Patio Weeds Gone For Good

UPDATE: We discovered an even better and permanent solution to stop those nasty weeds on our patio. Head over to our latest article about how we finally and permanently resolved this problem!

You can find it at the stores located below:

Amazon: Polymeric Sand 
Home Depot: Paver Set Polymeric Sand
Lowes: Polymeric Sand

It works great for: 

Hardens to fill joints between pavers
Prevents weed growth and insect mounds
Gray color blends well with patio stones and pavers

We also had to get rid of the weeds from our neighbor’s side of the fence too to make sure none of the nastiness of her weeds didn’t poke through. It was so easy to do and all without chemicals! That entire strip against the wall was loaded with weeds. Not anymore! 

How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals

All you have to do is spread the sand with a broom and make sure you pack it good in between the bricks or any other place you don’t want weeds. When done, water is all down good. The water helps to seal the sand and make it hard and compact like cement. 

How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals

We packed the paver sand tightly into any place that could grow weeds and wow does it work great! 

How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals

Now, we can love our backyard space again and never have to worry about those nasty weeds popping up and ruining our downtime! I hope you were able to get a solution to your weed problems too. 

NOTE: There were a lot of questions about this process, I wanted to address them here as best I can.

About the application process: Firstly, we used a brush to lay down the sand and packed it in between the bricks with the base of the brush – a fairly simple thing to do. Then, once the sand was in place, and all the weeds and moss were removed by hand first, we wet the entire deck down thoroughly. This hardens the sand and makes is almost cement-like. It’s important to make sure you do this step properly. 

It was a simple straightforward application and only took us a few hours to complete. My neighbor has used this process as well and has not had a weed in years now and trust me, I check. Now, while I’m not saying you will never a weed again, this is the best solution for sure. No chemicals, no vinegar, no baking soda, just the sand. 

I was also asked if you can use this in a flower bed, I can only share my experience. I have wood chips in my flower beds and weeds were still growing so I added some of the sand over the chips and it seems to be helping a great deal. This sand is primarily meant for brick pavers. It works unbelievably well for us and so far, no signs of weeds at all.

Will they ever come back again? Based on my neighbor and my experience with this sand, we are both weed-free! After a few years, if they grow back, I will repeat this process again especially since it was pretty easy to do in the first place. I will try to get to your questions if I see more. 

Update: No weeds at all! I wanted to let you all know that so far, we have no weeds at all on our patio! 

PIN IT FOR LATER!

How To Get Rid Of Patio Weeds Without Chemicals Sassy Townhouse Living

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53 Comments

  1. Wow wee what a great job you all did. I’m certainly going to have to try some of this sand. Thanks so much for the awesome and sassy idea.

  3. Wow!! what a difference. The pavers look great now. So clean and tidy. Great idea. I’ll pin this post to my Flower Garden Board… XOXO Susie

  4. Hello. This might be a silly question, but did you pull all of the weeds and moss before you put down the sand?

  5. Hi Felisha, Not silly at all! And yes, be sure to pull all of the weeds. You will get much better results that way. It works like a charm. You are going to love this weed solution! thanks so much for stopping by! Please sign up for my newsletter to for updates. Let me know if you have any other questions!
    Carolann

  6. Hi. You mentioned it also controlled the moss growing but you didn’t explain how you achieved this. The moss looks like it’s on top of the paver so how does the sand stop it from growing? Did you just put sand on top of the paver?

    Thank you!
    Mary

  7. I think this is great. But what do you do with weeds that grow in back yard? We live in texas an are yard at one time was a pasture, we have the big thick weeds that when mowed down leave a little stump that really hurts my dogs paws when chasing a ball. How does sand get rid of them?
    Thanks Penny

  8. So, you said you even used it around shrubs and plants in your garden? After weeding, did you just fill your flowerbed with the sand or how did you do that?

  9. Yes, I have that same question?? Also, what is preventing the weeds from reqrowing? I have paver sand between my patio stones and I still have to annually “Kill” the weeds?

  10. How did you pack the sand down in the small spaces between the pavers.
    How did you get rid of the moss?

  11. OMG this is fantastic. We just did something like this last week too. I’ll have to blog about it.

  12. 18 yrs ago, my husband and I put a paver patio in the front of our house and extended the width of our driveway 2 feet on each side with paver bricks, using patio sand under and in between them. Carolann is correct about the weeds. It was amazing! No weeds! For about 15 years, then slowly the weeds started appearing. We were able to stay ahead of the game for quite awhile just by pulling the weeds. Then the bricks started spreading apart, allowing more weed seeds to find their way to sprouting. Time to get more patio sand and fill in the spaces–Operation Weed Stop! I have been in my house for 20 yrs, and it’s time to re-sand the pavers again!

  13. Hi Kathi, wow, that’s an amazing story. Thanks so much for sharing it. I just love how simple a solution using the sand is. It really does work! Thanks again Kathi. It’s readers like you that take the time to comment brighten my day and make blogging so much more enjoyable! I hope to see you again soon Kathi. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
    Carolann xo

  15. Hi Susa, we used a large brush to push the sand into the small spaces and it worked perfectly! Once the sand is in place, be sure to wet it down really good. We dug up the moss with a sharp knife like tool. that worked great as well. Thanks much for stopping by! Hope that helps.
    Carolann

  16. Hi Bean, the sand hardens to an almost cement like texture and that keeps the weeds from growing back. I haven’t seen any sign of weeds in weeks and my neighbor used the same sand and it’s been years with no weeds. This solution works great! Thanks much for stopping by.
    Carolann

  17. Hi Anita, I have wood chips around my flowers and weeds were still poking through so I used some of the sand under the wood chips which kept it away from the flowers but stopped the weeds around them. I hope that helps.
    Carolann

  19. Hi Mary, first, we cleared away all of the moss and weeds. We used a sharp tool to achieve this. Once all of the weeds and moss were gone, we spread the patio paver sand over the bricks and filled all cracks too with a large brush. We wet the entire yard good and let it dry. The sand gets rock solid hard which prevents weeds and moss. Yes, no more weeds or moss. It works perfectly! I hope that helps.
    Carolann

  23. Hi Sassy,
    Sorry for being so irritating, would like to know what the ingredients of the bag you use are.
    I have not seen ready mixed patio sand in our stores. We usually mix river sand with some cement when laying patio bricks.
    Thanks,
    Marius.

  31. Hi Karen, I’m thrilled because it’s been a month and not one sign of weeds or moss! the sand really did the trick. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you again soon.
    Carolann

  32. I just found your blog it and I love it! I would like to weigh in on the sand issue. Sand is excellent for use between pavers as it forms an almost airtight seal around each paver. Over time with wind and rain dirt from surrounding areas will deposit on top of the sand and allow weeds to grow. Simply reapplying the sand will fix this issue. Using sand in flower beds, however, is a very bad idea. The sand will work it’s way down into the soil and harden wherever it ends up. This will starve the plants of oxygen and nutrients and keep the roots from growing outward. Adding fresh mulch annually should certainly help keep the weeds at bay. Now I’m going to explore this fabulous blog!

  33. Hi Katherine, I’ve had the sand for over a month now with no issues. My grass is fine and so are my flowers. And no weeds! My neighbor used the same mix and is he weed free for years now. It’s a blend specially made for pavers. We are thrilled with the results. We don’t have sand blowing anywhere because it hardens and stays put. Thanks much for stopping by.
    Carolann

  37. Hi Frank, The sand mixture is specially developed for pavers. It works like nothing else I’ve tried. I have no weeds or moss now and am thrilled. thanks so much for stopping by to comment.
    Carolann

  38. My concern is that it becomes like concrete when wet? I put a new driveway in about 7 years ago and weeds have begun popping up and boy are they tough ones. Mine is not brick but 4 rectangular pieces of concrete with a 1/2 ” space between them. This is for the natural expansion of the concrete due to heat so concrete doesn’t crack. What happens when you use this and concrete naturally needs to expand?

  39. Hi Andrea, When it rains there is really no impact on the sand. You just have to be mindful when you hose your yard down you don’t want to use the force of the water to push the sand out of the spaces. I think mine have about half the space of yours and so far so good. We just cleaned the deck yesterday and gave it a good hose down and there was only one tiny weed trying to come up so far so good. Good luck. I hope it works out for you too.
    Carolann

  40. Hi Sassy
    I get everything about the application. I understand about removing the moss growing on top
    of the pavers. But, how do I prevent moss from growing on top of the pavers. It doesn’t seem logical that I would leave paver sand on top of the pavers. What have I misunderstood?

  41. Hi Susan, Ok, just to clarify, I didn’t leave paver sand on top of the pavers. The moss was growing in between the pavers and so was the weeds. The sand helps keep them at bay. So far, I haven’t had any significant weed or moss growth. Now, while nothing can totally stop them from growing, the sand is doing a great job and I’m very pleased with the outcome. The sand doesn’t prevent moss from growing, it just reduces it drastically. At least for my yard it is. My neighbor uses the sand too and his yard is weed free for around 3 years now. I’m sure he gets little weeds but for the most part, it’s a great solution. I hope that helps.
    Carolann

  43. Hi Daina, It wasn’t mulch that I used it was paver sand. I have a link and an image of the product I used in my post. I applied the paver sand over the brick pavers and then used a yard brush to push in into the grooves of the bricks. I have full instruction in the post as well. I hope that helps. Thanks so much for stopping by.
    Carolann

  44. Wow Carolann, I originally saw your patio post on HomeTalk and have been looking for something similar to use here in South Africa. We have loads of cracks in our driveway and nothing irritates me more than those awful weeds but I don’t want to use poison either. I’m going to keep looking, but compacted sand definitely sounds like it could work. Thanks for sharing at the Sweet Inspiration party

  45. Hi Michelle, We are thrilled with the results so far. It’s been months and no weeds yet. Even if one or two starts to poke up it’s so much easier to manage now. That sand really worked out great for us and I hope it does for you too! It’s an inexpensive and poison free solution for sure. Let me know how it turns out for you. Thanks so much for stopping over. Have a great week!
    Carolann

  46. That is great to know! Those weeds can get so annoying and if this helps for a few years then it’s well worth it for sure!!

  47. Hi Katrin, I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled we are with this solution. I haven’t even seen one weed! I hope it works out for you too. Best fix ever! Have a great rest of the week.
    Carolann

  52. Thanks so much Sam. I haven’t seen a weed in my backyard since doing this. I know it’s going to work for you too! Keep in touch and let me know how it goes. Have a wonderful and blessed day!
    Carolann

  53. Hi Marta, Love your name! Oh yes. I haven’t seen a weed in our backyard since we did this last year. I know it’s going to work for you too. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a beautiful and blessed day!
    Carolann

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