glyphosate

We do have something in the shed which DH and I refuse to discuss as I am totally against using chemicals in the garden. I suspect he squirts it on the weeds in the front garden path when I'm not around.

...totally against chemicals also?

I believe it's used in large amounts in cereal-growing areas, eg wheat, barley, maize, rape etc.
Not just private gardens.

It hasn't been banned - yet -, but it is likely to be so in the next couple of years.

I have just bought a weed burner wand. They are not expensive £10.00 plus, depending where you buy them and use small canisters of gas £2.00 upwards.

They are light and easy to use and although, initially, you have to keep going over the same ground, big weeds do not die after one pass with the wand, I am finding after about a couple of months of regularly going over the patio. I am now just doing a light weed once every couple of weeks. The weed burner doesn't just kill te weeds, it kills any seeds in the soul immediately near to the area you are burning.

The weed burner sounds a great idea. Thanks for the tip.

Actually I nearly bought some from Aldi last week. I used to use a glyphosate gel weed killer that you brushed onto the leaves and stems and it killed systemically. This was liquid and you had to spray it, which I didn't consider a good idea as it kills everything it comes into contact with. I have bindweed in one of my flower beds and if you don't kill the roots it just keeps spreading. You can't seem to get the brush on stuff now.

My DD's next door neighbour is not English, so doesn't know which plants in his garden are considered to be weeds. He asked her to admire his Mare's Tail which he says are doing so well, and the bindweed which he has trained up some trellis!!! No weedkillers in that household .

I have more strawberry plnts growing in the cracks between my paving flags than in the tubs I planted them in a couple of years ago. All the plants growing in the cracks are beautiful wild flowers. The only ones I pull up are dandelions, otherwise they take over.
Nobody knows the long term effects of glyphosate, but it inhibits the bodies ability to assimilate certain proteins.
It's in about 30% of our bread, so we are the guinea pigs for Monsanto.