When to Use a Weed Burner on Stubborn Weeds

By this point in the season, you are probably fed up with the annoying, scraggly grass growing up between the cracks in your driveway, the dandelions that dot your patio, and the moss on your rock wall. If that is the case, what you need is a legit weed burner.

What is a weed burner?

Really, a weed burner is nothing more than a $30 attachment for a propane tank. It works the same way as a hose attachment: You pull the trigger when you want to turn it on. Except, in this case, it shoots balls of flame instead of water for your pansies. They’re pretty easy to find at Home Depot, Amazon, or Lowe’s, and there are a bunch of models, but for the average home gardener, you want to go smaller. Here are some to consider:

• A cheap, self igniting weed burner for residential yards
• A double-headed heavy-duty burner for large spaces
• A tiny Benzomatic burner just to try things out
• A flint ignitor, just in case
• A hose attachment so you can keep your hose on, nearby, just in case

How to use a weed burner

Most people already have a 20-gallon propane tank around—it’s hooked up to your gas grill. To use the weed burner, disconnect the propane tank and attach your weed burner to the nozzle, and then slowly open the tank. Some weed burners come with ignitors, and in some cases, you need to have one. You don’t want to use a lighter in this application because you’ll want to be farther away from the flame.

Slowly open up the gas on the weed burner and ignite it, and you’ll have a pretty passive flame. Now if you pull the trigger, it sends oxygen and propane to the flame and you have a powerful directional flame. It’s also loud, which is part of the charm.

We’ll talk about safety in a second, but in terms of application, you want to focus on areas against flame resistant backgrounds: pavers, rocks, concrete. Aim the flame at the weed, focusing on the root, and burn it until it is black and completely shriveled. To achieve that faster, you can use a string trimmer on the area before you burn it, so you’re burning less plant material, just the roots.

You can use it in this way for moss, as well. I use it on my rock wall where it grows, and it very effectively (and loudly) burns it off. You don’t need to wear a mask, as you’re not burning enough or burning anything toxic.

How to use a weed burner safely

As previously mentioned, you want to focus on places where you can’t cause a big fire. Be vigilantly aware of how close you are to plant materials, your home, wood, or anything flammable. Obviously, this is a no pets/no kids situation.

To hedge, I always have the hose open, nearby, and at my feet so just in case, I can immediately water down anything I need to.

For what I hope are obvious reasons, the weed burner isn’t meant to be your usual weeding tool. What it does really effectively, though, is get rid of weeds in areas where they keep coming back but you can’t access the roots easily, like pavers or sidewalk cracks.

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