As the summer stretches ahead of us, those of us with gardens go into battle – us versus the weeds. After a period of winter dormancy, you will probably notice weeds coming back to life in your garden, paths and walls. The best weed killers will get rid of them for good, so your garden can be ready for BBQ and paddling pool season.
Spring and early summer is the time you want to get a head start on weed killing. “Spring and early Autumn tend to provide the perfect conditions for weed growth. I like to get ahead of the game nice and early and keep on top of them,” says Ben Martin, owner of Ben Martin Garden Design. Early intervention will stop weeds properly rooting and re-seeding themselves.
There are a number of frustrations with weeds. No matter how hard you try, they keep coming back up, while pulling them up can be time-consuming and back-breaking work. And then there’s the confusion over which is the best weed killer to go for.
“Use a selective weed killer on lawns and non-selective weed killers elsewhere. For example, on patios, drives, or paths,” advises Martin. “Selective weed killers will only target broad-leaved plants and not grass, so are perfect for use on your lawn. Non-selective weed killers will kill everything in their path.”
If you’re struggling to get rid of a stubborn weed, you may need to go for a systemic weed killer. “A contact weed killer will only kill the part of the plant it touches, whereas a systemic one will be absorbed into the plant and kill the whole plant at its root,” explains Ben Martin.
But which are the best weed killers to get your garden looking its best? Let’s weed them out (sorry, not sorry).
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The best weed killers for 2026 are:
- Best overall – Resolva xtra tough weedkiller: £6.50, Sainsburys.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Verve ready to use weed killer: £4, Diy.com
- Best for fast results – Resolva xtra fast: £7.45, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for lawns – Resolva lawn weedkiller: £4.80, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for paths – Resolva path and drive weedkiller: £4.49, Amazon.co.uk
Resolva xtra tough weedkiller
Rating: 5/5
Best: Weed killer overall
Why we love it
- Kills whole plant
- Works on lots of stubborn weeds
Take note
- Takes a little longer to work than others
No matter what I do, grass grows in the cracks between my paving stones. I assume someone laid the bricks directly on top of a bucolic meadow, that’s how stubborn this grass is. So I was keen to find something that would properly handle this problem, and save me from the backache of pulling grass out of the cracks every time I’m in the garden. I sprayed this Resolva xtra tough weedkiller on the most-stubborn grass, and after testing a range of formulas I can say it’s the best weed killer I’ve tried.
It took a a few days to act, but I noticed the grass started to singe around the edges. A month later and the grass is now desiccated and – most importantly – hasn’t grown back. Resolva claims that “it controls a wide spectrum of annual and deep-rooted perennials such including grasses, docks and thistles…” – a case of a product that genuinely does what it says on the bottle.
Key specifications:
Buy now £6.5, Sainsburys.co.uk
Verve ready to use weed killer
Rating: 3.5/5
Best: Budget weed killer
Why we love it
- Easy to use
- Suitable for replanting straight away
- Fast results
Take note
- Not great on perennials
- Will require retreatment
Verve weed killer is glyphosate free, and is a non-selective contact weed killer. This means it dries out any leaves it comes into contact with. The generous size of this pump bottle meant I could treat a huge area without breaking my back or running out. It should cover about an area of around 50 sq m.
The trigger gun is easy to use and leak free. I noticed results in about an hour, on a really dry day. The weeds were visibly browning within this time, although some of the tougher perennial weeds started to reappear a few weeks later.
Key specifications:
Buy now £4, Diy.com
Resolva xtra fast
Rating: 4.5/5
Best: Weed killer for fast results
Why we love it
- Very fast acting
- Easy to use
- Good for a quick blitz
Take note
- Watch out for drift as it will kill everything in its path
- Long-term results aren't the best
I stood rubbing my eyes in disbelief at how quickly dandelions and my particular nemesis – bind weed – crumpled after spraying this weed killer on. It was a matter of an hour before the leaves started turning brown and wilting. The main active ingredient in this weed killer is pelargonic acid, which is generally considered a safer chemical in the spectrum of weed killers, as long as it’s used properly.
I did notice that although the initial visible weeds wilted immediately, three or four weeks later, the dandelions grew back again. If you’re looking to kill something quickly this is great, but for long-term eradication this won’t get to the root of the matter. You will need to be targeted with your use of this weed killer as it takes no prisoners – look out for drift onto other plants.
Key specifications:
Buy now £7.45, Amazon.co.uk
Resolva lawn weed killer
Rating: 4/5
Best: Lawn weed killer
Why we love it
- Spray application is good for small lawns
- Rapid acting
Take note
- Pump needs regularly repumping for larger lawns
Resolva’s lawn weed killer is a selective formula that I tested on a very big lawn, which had a range of different weeds mixed in with lush grass. Needless to say I was anxious about how effective it would be without destroying the lawn. After spraying the lawn and revisiting a week later, I was incredibly impressed.
The weeds had noticeably died back, looking grey and positively crispy by the time I surveyed the damage. I was relieved to see that the lawn still looked luscious and green, completely oblivious to the chemicals that had decimated the weeds.
Key specifications:
Buy now £4.8, Amazon.co.uk
Weedol path & gravel control
Rating: 4/5
Best: weed killer for gravel
Why we love it
- No staining
- Works fairly quickly
Take note
- Requires cyclical retreatment
A day after spraying this Weedol path & gravel control weed killer, the stubborn weeds and grass that grow through the gravel in my garden were wilting. I was concerned about it staining the white gravel, but the gravel still looks nice and fresh.
This is a contact weed killer, so it won’t kill the whole plant. This means you’ll need to either tease the plant out when it’s dead and hope all the root is gone too, or keep respraying the plant intermittently. Weedol says this is effective within three hours, but in my experience it took a little longer than this.
Key specifications:
Buy now £5.15, Diy.com
Roundup ready to use tough weedkiller
Rating: 4/5
Best: weed killer for long-lasting results
Why we love it
- Very little regrowth
- Good on tough weeds
Take note
- Requires careful application
- Slightly slower to work
This Roundup ready to use tough weed killer is designed to break down contact with the soil. This is handy if you plan to replant on the site, so your carefully selected shrubs don’t die when they’re planted. It is a systemic weedkiller, so will kill the plant at its root and prevent regrowth.
This weed killer is especially good for difficult perennial and woody weeds. I noticed initial wilting after 12 hours of spraying, but the full effect of killing the roots will take longer. This is a great option if you want to go hard and get long-lasting results.
Key specifications:
Buy now £6.49, Amazon.co.uk
Weedol lawn weedkiller
Rating: 4/5
Best: selective lawn weed killer
Why we love it
- A little goes a long way
- Targets weeds at the roots
- Effective on broad-leaved weeds like chickweed, clover and dandelions
Take note
- Won’t control grassy weeds
- Takes a little while to see noticeable results
- Not suitable for newly sown lawns
Rest assured that even the most well-tended lawns still get weeds, so I put this Weedol weed killer to the test on my own. It did a great job of getting rid of some of the weeds and as it’s a systemic, selective weedkiller, it kills broad-leaved weeds all the way to the root, while leaving the grass to survive.
I found that this killed the weeds and they didn't come back after a few treatments, suggesting I simply missed a few patches the first time around.
Key specifications:
Buy now £5, Diy.com
Resolva path and drive weed killer
Rating: 3.5/5
Best: weed killer for paths
Why we love it
- Fast acting
- Works on algae
- Safe for use on hard surfaces
Take note
- Weeds will require regular treating to properly kill them
Weeds in paths are a huge problem in my garden and front path. No matter what I do, it feels like the weeds grow as quickly as I pull them up. So I was keen to see how this Resolva path and drive weedkiller fared. Resolva says it kills “weeds, moss and affects algae on hard surfaces, with visible effects within one hour on actively growing plants” using a non-glyphosate herbicide. With this in mind, I sprayed it on a persistent broad-leaved dock that grows on my front steps to put its claim to the test.
I was initially thrilled – the plant wilted within a few hours, turning brown and dying over the course of hours rather than days. However, a few weeks later the dock leaf sprouted in the same place. Therefore will need to go in and pull out the dead weeds and reapply this weedkiller on a cyclical basis.
Key specifications:
Buy now £4.95, Amazon.co.uk
Jarder path and patio weed killer
Rating: 3.5/5
Best: weedkiller for households with pets
Why we love it
- Fast results
- No mixing required
Take note
- Only kills parts of the plant it touches
- Will require retreatment
Jarder’s path and patio weed killer is non-selective, contact weedkiller that’s designed to be used on hard surfaces such as paths and driveways. Rather than killing weeds through the whole plant, it burns the leaves where the formula hits. This translated as fast-acting killing power. I used it just before the first heatwave of the summer, and my garden quickly looked weed free.
Unfortunately I noticed that a few weeks later that the same weeds had sprouted. However a benefit of this acetic acid weed killer is that once it’s dry, it’s not going to be super harmful for pets and young children.
Key specifications:
Buy now £10.95, Amazon.co.uk
Your questions on weed killers answered
What are the best weed killers?
After months of testing, Resolva xtra tough came out top as the best weed killer thanks to its sheer effectiveness. While it wasn’t the speediest for results, it was really got to the root of the matter, and killed the whole plant. This ensured everything including docks and dandelions were dispatched from my life entirely. Family coming over for a BBQ and don’t want to be shamed by a weed-covered driveway? I’d opt for Resolva xtra fast, which banishes weeds (in the short term) after about an hour.
How I tested weed killers
I spent several months in spring testing out weed killers, where lawns, paths and patios around my house were all utilised to see how effective each weed killer was. The metrics I looked at when testing included:
Not all weed killers work at the same rate, so I gave everything two weeks to see the end result. It goes without saying that I waited for a long period of sunshine when applying the weed killer, as weed killers lose their efficacy in rainy weather.
Does weed killer kill grass?
It depends what type of formula you go for. If you’re going to spray weed killer on your lawn, look for a selective formula as this will ensure your grass doesn’t get damaged. Avoid using non-selective weed killers designed for paths and patios on grass, as these will get rid of any plant in their path.
How long does weed killer take to work?
Contact weed killers can work as quickly as 10 minutes up to a few hours, but are only designed to kill the part of the plant they touch. Systemic weed killers can take anywhere from a week to a month to work, but move into the roots so should kill the whole plant.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Zoë Phillimore is a journalist and editor who has regularly contributed to IndyBest since 2021. She has written extensively about all things outdoors, including essentials for your garden from the best lawnmowers, to the best trampolines and best patio heaters. She has covered everything from buying guides and round-ups to standalone reviews, each time prioritising quality, durable products at affordable prices.
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