How to Keep Weeds Out of Paver Joints

Weeds in your paver joints almost never grow up from the soil below. They sprout in the thin layer of organic dust, pollen, and seeds that settles into the sand between your pavers, and then our New Orleans climate does the rest. Heat, near-constant humidity, and heavy rain keep that joint sand damp, and damp sand is exactly where seeds germinate and ants like to dig. Fix the joints and you fix the problem. Here is how to keep weeds and ants out for good.

Why weeds and ants show up in the first place

Three things have to be true for a weed to grow in a joint: a seed, a little organic material, and moisture. You can’t stop seeds from blowing in off the wind and the river, but you can starve them of the other two. Regular sand washes out over time, leaving open gaps that collect leaf debris and stay wet. Ants love those same soft, sandy gaps because they’re easy to tunnel through. In our humid Gulf Coast climate, with hurricane-season rain from June through November pounding the surface, loose joints break down faster here than in drier parts of the country.

So the goal isn’t to spray more weed killer. It’s to lock the joints down so nothing can take root.

Polymeric sand is the real fix

Standard joint sand stays loose and washes away. Polymeric sand is different. It contains a binder that, once you sweep it in and mist it with water, hardens into a firm, flexible joint that resists