Weeds are on the warpath now, getting ready to haunt your gardens and bedevil your landscape! Argh! In earlier newsletters we discussed the use of pre-emergent herbicides to avoid this onslaught. There is still time to use them for 2-3 months of pre-emergent control, but it is also time to break out the post-emergent weed killers to get and stay ahead of ugly weeds!
Here are some know how facts to help you better understand good weed control procedures.
- Pre-emergent herbicides are usually a granular product that creates an herbicide barrier that kills young weed seeds at the time of their germination.
- Post-emergents come in both granular and liquid form and work when applied to the foliage of weeds that are already growing, distributing the weed killer throughout.
There are two types of sprayers you should have in your weed control arsenal.
- One for Selective Herbicides designed for killing broadleaf weeds in your lawn without harming the grass.
- The second for Non Selective Herbicides designed for spot spraying only specific weeds within your gardens. Don’t use this one in your lawn since the overspray will kill the lawn grass. Do NOT use one sprayer for both purposes! The residue of non-selective herbicides don’t always wash out thoroughly and can be harmful to grass and other desirables.
When you use granular weed killers, such as a granular lawn food plus post emergent weed killer, it should be at least a few days after mowing since the post emergent herbicides need to have contact with foliage to be effective. Then after apply, make sure it is at least a few more days before you mow again, leaving the product time to do it’s job. Apply it in the morning when dew is still present, so the weed leaf surface is moist and the herbicide can stick to the surface better. The flip side of this is when applying spray on/liquid weed killers, it’s is best to do so on dry leaves so the pesticide sticks rather than just run off to the ground.
Mind the rain! For pre-emergents, the product needs to be washed into the soil and mulch so apply it when rain is expected soon thereafter. For post-emergents, on the other hand, time your application when no rainfall is expected for at least a day or two so the product won’t get washed off of the leaves before it has a chance to do its job.
Follow these how tos, along with he continued advice from the Evergreen of JC team of experts, and you’ll be off to a weed free lawn and garden and will be the envy of the neighborhood. As you can see, the effectiveness of weed control is all about timing so if you have ANY questions, our professionals are ready and willing to help!
