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Which is why I don’t use ANY form of “weed killer” - not needed. They are wild flowers and grasses in their natural habitat and support more insect and bug life than most of the plants that garden centres and nurseries sell to us which in many cases are “imports” and/or hybridised.
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To be clear we don’t use herbicides on the main garden (UK or France), and probably would not use herbicide on the gravel if we were resident full time - but, as it is, we do need to apply something to keep it clear (especially as it wasn’t really laid properly - no hardcore layer and no weed proof membrane).
Forget the membrane… weeds go through it and their roots gather/develop on the underside of the membrane and are murder to pull through/remove (I speak from experience… it’s driving me mad)
The area where there is no membrane was done by a different company and is much lighter on weeds and easier to control.
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Mare’s tail is a pain. After trawling through some forums a few years back, the only semi-convincing answer I found was to improve the quality of soil.
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I’ve got two UK clients who are obsessed with never seeing weeds on their gravel drives/paths and it is a constant struggle to keep them weed free, I dread to think how much it costs them in chemicals and my time to achieve their futile aim as the weeds will always win in the end.
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I’ve mentioned a couple of options elsewhere, but worth repeating here. We have no membrane and I agree with @Stella - just causes problems in the future. But what does work is a VERY thick layer of gravel. Most weeds only root in the gravel itself and are incredibly easy to pull out - especially after rain.
The other alternative, which we adopt with the farm track that goes from our house down to our cottage, is to let everything grow and then just do a periodic tight mow. Most of winter we just let it grow scruffily and then when the gite season starts we just mow like fury - really easy. And it means that things like clover just form a tight sward and manage to flower, much to the delight of bees.
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Sounds like me I’m afraid.
We had managed to keep the gravel fairly clear with a combination of the flamethrower1 and hand weeding, despite only visiting every 6-12 weeks but Covid has tipped the balance firmly in the weed’s favour.
1] It’s not actually supposed to be a flame*thrower*, but sometimes it doesn’t vaporise the paraffin properly - in which case it behaves exactly like a flamethrower.
for several years, one of my voluntary tasks was a 20 minute daily hoe hoe hoe-ing of the petanque court. It was good exercise and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Covid put an end to that… for some time I wasn’t allowed to go as far as the petanque court… and by the time I could… it was a lost cause.
I’m hoping the council workmen will help us (the village) get it back into shape, but their numbers are down due to sickness. So we’ll have to wait until the autumn or later.
At present, it’s a mowed green patch, hopeless for petanque but ok for summer picnics and evening barbecues… and it is a wonderful spot from which to view the surrounding countryside… hmmm… but no petanque (mumble, mumble…)
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Combining both that most French of sports and your inner desire to be Father Christmas in one socially useful activity.
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from my experience in UK, I felt that our small community might like/need volunteers and I was right. Quite a wide range of activities need support/members and it’s been a wonderful way of meeting everyone and diving right into French country life.
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Been through this this spring. I have about 200-250m2 of gravel drive, which is infested with couch grass. I split it in two to make it more manageable and have dug up about 8 tonnes of gravel and earth to find what looks like tissue paper underneath, which has been thoroughly perforated by the couch grass. I spent about 5 weeks digging it all up and removing the couch grass by hand. Fortunately, it only roots down to about 15cm. I removed about 3-4 m2 of couch grass roots. Unfortunately, whilst doing this, I damaged the rotator cuff in my right shoulder, so finishing it off is on hold. I bough 400gsm geotextile to go underneath and will put the gravel back on top. If I’d been able to get glyphosphate, it would have made my job many times easier, but hey ho.
If you can get a load of cardboard, put that down before the membrane it will starve everything of light and really helps suppress weeds long term.
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About 5 years ago a local farmer friend of mine was able to buy a number of 25 litre glyphosphate as there was some sort of relaxed rule at the time .
He bought me 2 x 25 litre lots and this year I have just started the second so should last me to 2027.
It keeps our very large courtyard looking smart and keeps the perimeter fences clear of all sorts of encroachments.
Suitably masked and protected i use it about 3 times oer season.
Will have to think again for 2028.
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Which is against the law.
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This is our big problem this year. It has suddenly taken hold across an area that we have been maintaining for flowers - so don’t cut until July and remove the ‘hay’ to reduce soil nutrients. Plus it has a lot of yellow rattle to further reduce grass. Last year was lovely - orchids, and ragged robin, and marguerites and so on. This year it is yellow rattle and mare’s tail. Quite dramatic but not actually our aim!
But not for much longer by the sound of it!
The Guardian: EU regulators ‘dismissed evidence’ linking glyphosate to rodent tumours.
I’d certainly never want to add any chemicals onto my space, as not only for the wildlife’s sake but also my water comes from a well at a low point on the property. I was getting quite some deja vu as I read this thread 
Weeds are clearly a hot topic! Since hand weeding my drive and adding another layer of geotextile and more gravel it’s remained clear, as I just pick out the odd weed every few days to keep on top of it. I’ve gravelled a couple of other areas since, and what I did was first cover the area in cardboard, then geotextile membrane, then gravel - a couple of pretty large areas and only the odd very rare surface weed which are so incredibly east to remove. Delighted that all the gravel areas are now simple and quick to maintain, they look great, and I haven’t harmed myself or any wildlife in the process:+1:
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The EU are due to renew (or not) the approval for the use of Glyphosate fairly soon but that won’t change how it can be used in France, ie for farmers etc only.
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Tell me what you do with the glyphosate that you are not supposed to use? I could always pour it down the drain I suppose😀