Hi, all. We just had a major re-landscaping including adding a 900 gal pond.

Our property is bordered across the back by a chain-link fence onto fallow fields with wetlands/creek drainage and some oaks. Tons of wild grasses and plants, particularly foxtail, vetch, blackberry (thanks, birds), sorrels, etc. Every spring the weed abatement mowing sends tons of eager seeds our way. The "before" pictures of these areas were virtually indistinguishable from the field behind us.

We had the area bordering the field landscaped with 2+ inches of rock over Typar. Next to the pond however, the landscapers mounded earth around to provide for proper drainage away from the pond, and the mounds are covered with cedar shred mulch, no Typar (they said that we'd have trouble keeping mulch over the cloth on the high spots; we agreed).

Of course, the earth that was used to make these mounds was the excavation from the pond and the other dirt around that section of the yard -- full of seeds from the previously occupying weeds. We also have dogs, and they immediately decided that this mounded area would be just a little cozier if they moved the bark around a bit to settle down, so already we're getting a bark/soil mix.


Here's the problem: Turns out the landscaper did not put down any pre-emergent before or after mulching and we have loads of sprouts starting. I understand that I Round-up what's visible and growing, but I'm trying to figure out the right thing to use as a pre-emergent to keep the rest of the seeds sitting in the dirt at bay.

I live in Sunset Zone 9 east of Sacramento. We get no rain from late May through much of September or even into October. And it's already June. All the stuff about applying spring and fall is all well and good, but I need to do something now, not wait for fall.

I have Preen (homeowner, not Pro, strength) and I just bought a bottle of Barricade, but I'm leary of using either until I really understand them and proper application. Preen is a dry granule, and I don't understand how it would work very well when we have no rain to move its ingredients into the soil where the seeds are. I have not begun to read the very thick package instructions on the Barricade, because some initial reading on the 'net has given me pause about using it so close to my pond (after all, I have put 6 25-cent goldfish in it!).

After the minimal reading I've done, I think I want to use Preen on the mound and wet it down lightly a few times in the first week or so, and save the Barricade for spring/fall on the rock right along the border with the field.

Any advice?