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With spring right around
the corner, 2 buzz terms you hear a lot of right now are pre emergent and
post emergent herbicides, and when is the right time to use them. Well, let
me first explain what they are, and then tell you the right timing for their
use.
Pre emergent herbicides
are herbicides that are applied to the soil BEFORE weed seeds begin to grow
in the spring. There are several pre emergents to chose from, and are
labeled either for the lawn or for the landscape and flower beds. (With
exception to the organic pre emergent Corn Gluten, which can be used in
both.) So make sure you read the labels. Remember they stop seeds from
germinating, so be careful when using them around areas where you’ll be
planting seeds. In the lawn, if you have dormant seeded, or are planning to
spring seed, be sure to choose the pre emergent that can be used on newly
seeded lawns.
Timing for pre emergent
herbicides, especially for those wanting to control crabgrass in their
lawns, is to have the pre emergents in place before the soil and air
temperatures reach 50-55 degrees consistently. That’s when crabgrass seeds
begin to germinate. An easy way to know when that time is...having your pre
emergents in place before the forsythia are in full flower.
Post emergent herbicides
are applied to already growing unwanted grasses and weeds. And these are
generally applied a little later on, when the weeds and grasses are actively
growing, and the temperatures are a bit warmer. Again, many post emergents
to choose from, depending on the situation. Lawn weed killers, Roundup…they
all fall into this category. Now, there is one post emergent herbicide that
can be used earlier for those cool temperature weeds, and that’s Bonide’s
Weed Beater Ultra. Works at 45 degrees, and covers a lot of weeds including
chickweed, henbit, and wild onions, which are growing now.
Not to confuse matters,
but there’s also new technology for the lawn, from Greenview, where they’ve
combined the pre and the post emergents together, and this product is
applied to the lawn in mid spring. Stops weed seeds that haven’t already
germinated, kills weeds that are already growing, and feeds the lawn in the
same step. Head still spinning? Just email me…ronwilson@clearchannel.com
and I’ll help answer your gardening questions. |
