Keeping weeds off a pump track
Hi Lee,
Jerome from Bozeman, MT here. Hey, I’ve purchased your Welcome to Pump Track Nation book and some plans and also your skills book. Great stuff, man. Thanks. I’ve a lingering question. How do I keep the weeds from growing in my pump track? Thanks!
Sincerely,
Jerome
My ex track had great dirt, mulch, flagstone and very few weeds.
Hey Jerome,
Ride it like crazy!
That’ll take care of the riding surface. Here are some ideas for the sides of the rollers and the tops/backs of the berms:
• Plant something that will hold the space. Grass, wildflowers, etc.
• Put mulch/bark down. That can help.
• Put down weed barrier fabric like you would in a garden.
• Poison. That’s neither PC nor widely publicized, but some public tracks use Roundup.
• Pavement or flagstone. Heck, you can pave the riding surfaces too.
What other ideas does everyone have?
Lee
You can’t have a world champion standing on weeds. Brian Lopes hangs in the midfield on my old pump track.
Know more. Have more fun!
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We too bought your book, start building tracks, and weeds are big part of our maintenance unfortunately. Especially because moving/disturbing dirt results in bad weeds. I visited your tracks at Valmont this past summer (we’re from Utah), and I was surprised that Boulder has no chemical rule…and that park is 40 acres! I say moderation as prevention goes a long way to keep noxious weeds out.
Try spraying vinegar on the weeds when it’s at the hottest post of the day. It’s non toxic and will help. Or, take a flamethrower to them.
I get a ton of mallow and some various other weeds. I spray the big areas with poison. Stuff right next or on the track I will ride a few laps then pull some weeds by hand while I recover and then keep doing that over and over.
A little better than poison is the stuff that promotes grass but kills weeds. I believe it works by changing the pH of the soil (maybe acidic based on the vinegar comment above?). I did this a couple of years ago in my side yard where there’s no grass but lots of weeds (at the time) and it worked really well. In my case, no grass grew in this space.
What’s wrong with weeds on the backside where noone rides? They’ll help stabilise the soil.
There’s nothing awful about weeks on the backs of your berms, but grass or flowers would be nicer!
We ride it as much as we can, but when they get out of hand we use a propane flame/torch to burn them off. You can find them at any major hardware store. Make sure to have a hose handy and don’t use it on a windy day.