Question
QUESTION: hi....i have a small business and i want to turn my medium sized backyard into parking for my customers. Just wondering what would be the best and least expensive(i would like to do it myself if possible) way to completely kill all the grass/weeds forever in my backyard and driveway and lay gravel in its place. Currently its overgrown and there's just as many weeds as grass. Not sure how to get rid of the grass so it wont grow back....Roundup? Till? Vineger?....help!

ANSWER: My friend, it is my pleasure to tell you that since you want to do this cheap, you MUST do it without any poisonous chemicals.

Roundup is expensive.  There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING good about Roundup.  But there is LOTS that is bad.  And... it's not the cheapest way to do it.  Plus it is not effective for your purposes.  

You want permanent, right?

I just want to make sure I get this right - permanent?

Because sometimes people say things they don't exactly mean literally.  And there is this minor but potentially major language barrier - you say potahto, I say potayto.  We are talking 'permanent' as in 'forever'?

Your answer lies back in the days of ancient Rome.  See Wikipedia's description of 'salting the earth':

www.answers.com/topic/salting-the-earth?hl=scorched&hl=earth&hl=policy

which tells us this refers to and I quote 'the practice of spreading salt on fields to make them incapable of being used for crop-growing. This was done in ancient times at the end of some wars as an extremely punitive scorched Earth tactic.'

Wikipedia also reminds us: 'The Red Army also salted Soviet fields as a part of the scorched earth policy against the Nazi invasion. It was reported that when the Soviets reclaimed the territory, they were equally unable to use it.'

Salt will solve your problem here, sir.

Salt (Sodium Chloride) reaches toxic levels dissolved in water.

Sodium ions displace Phosphorus and Potassium in your garden.  Plant roots take up Chloride ions and ship them around to all the leaves.  This interrupts the manufacture of Chlorophyll; roots wane from severe dehydration; and it's Goodbye and Good Luck.

Acid loving plants are especially sensitive to Salt.  These are the first to kick the bucket - that's how we used to say 'die' back in Brooklyn.

Salt is not COMPLETELY permanent.  However, if you are indeed going to be parking on it, you can count on the heavy traffic decking to make the damage as permanent at least as civilization.

In Winter, you can shovel on the Salt to melt water with no concern about what you're doing to the plants or the Grass.  Come Spring, empty your reserves as a maintenance tactic.  Anything Green found growing should be sent to the Smithsonian or the Museum of Natural History here in NYC.  Any questions?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for the response/advice.
Yes, as i said before, i dont want the grass to grow back. PERMANENTLY! i want to turn my medium sized yard into a parking lot with rocks/gravel instead of the current grass/weeds.
i want the grass died and a step by step guide to completing my gravel/rock parking lot.
You said use salt....are you talking regular table salt from the grocery store(which would definitely be right up my alley because that's cheap!) or do you mean something else maybe from Lowe's, Home Depot or other hardware stores???
im guessing i spread the salt on the existing grass then water the grass with the garden hose. (Alot or a small amount of water) How long will it take to die? then after that, should i add some sort of barrier or cover over the died grass before i add the gravel/rocks and if so, what type of barrier? Or is that even necessary?
Honestly...dude should i just rent a till and rip the grass up and turn it over then just add gravel/rocks and be done????

Answer
NOOOOOOOOoooooo -- Tilling is NOT your answer, dude!

Do you have ANY IDEA how many MILLIONS of Weed Seeds are floating around under there?  Do you know these Weeds have roots that break into Concrete?  Till not!

Besides, this is easy.  Too good to be true?  Like I told you, the Romans did this 2000 years ago and the Salt is still giving farmers trouble in the old country.

Salt as in Sodium Chloride -- Salt as in the stuff in the shaker, next to the Pepper.  NaCl Salt.  S-A-L-T.  Get it cheap at Costco or Walmart.

Know how Salt was used as a preservative long ago?

Why does that work?

Salt molecules pull Water molecules out of anything they touch.  Not even microscopic bacteria can survive.  Salt corrodes metal, concrete, paint and ROOTS with no mercy.  

Some well intentioned friends may figure this project is perfect (if a bit expensive) for that space-age spray, Round-Up/Glyphosate.  Note please that Glyphosate is not all you get when you spray -- 99 percent of the contents is 'inert' ingredients -- polyethoxylated tallowamine, isopropylaminesome, other chemicals with plenty of documented side effects you do not need.  No such studies warn against use of Salt.

One last thing: I'd like to share with you something I'm trying myself this Summer at my own house:  a product called 'Polypavement':

http://www.polypavement.com/more_info.htm

I have a bluestone driveway that is prone to Weeds during Summer.  I could wipe out everything with Salt, but I don't like the idea of launching that kind of attack on non-plants around the house.  It's not that I'm against 'forever'.  It's just that the driveway happens to have a huge Earthworm population, and I LIKE my Earthworms.  I'd just like them to live in the Lawn.  Consequently I have Weeds growing in some places through the bluestone gravel.

I have not tried Polypavement yet, mind you.  But I plan to use it this Summer.  It won't damage the Earthworms, it won't do any collateral damage to the sidewalk the way Salt Water will.  Again, I have not done this yet.  But it's on the list of How I Plan to Spend My Summer Vacation.