Preen In Perennials?
vjrnts
13 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years agovjrnts
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Preen & Soil Rich In Orgaic Matter
Comments (0)I have a bare soil area in my front lawn that I recently amended with several bags of composted manure. I havent gotten the chance to plant anything yet, but I will next month (as soon as the nurseries start discounting their already established perennials that are past their bloom period). In the meantime however, Im concerned about "new" weeds sprouting. I wanted to use some Preen but the back of the package says.....Do not apply Preen Weed Preventer to muck soils or to soils containing more than 10% organic matter. Does anyone know why this is? Should I apply mulch first then Preen (to avoid direct contact with the soil)? Oh, and what is "muck" soil?...See Morevinca minor groundcover - should I put down Preen at planting?
Comments (24)I learned a very valuable lesson with my vinca project - we ended up killing (or so I thought) everything on the slope with Roundup, waited a couple of weeks to make sure nothing green came back, then planted the vinca and mulched lightly. The vinca has done very well, but unfortunately crabgrass has engulfed the entire slope. The vinca is doing just fine underneath, but pulling out the crabgrass is an enormous hassle. I have reclaimed about 3/4 of the slope bit by bit but I have now given up and am just waiting for a frost to kill off the rest of the crabgrass. I will have to put down Preen in the spring for sure. I absolutely should have put down a layer of newspaper/cardboard in addition to the mulch. Furthermore, the Roundup application didn't kill deeply rooted things like docks and dandelions, so I have been pulling those out by hand, along with a few other pesky things like clover. I have a feeling this slope is going to be a huge weeding nightmare for at least another year, but the vinca is filling in much faster than I expected, so we shall see....See MorePreen weed preventer in perennial beds
Comments (5)In areas where I don't encourage self-seeding of valuable plants, I use mulch to both control weeds and feed the soil. Preen does nothing for soil quality, obviously, has to keep being applied (the cost is not insignificant) and last I checked there was some question about its possible deleterious effect on amphibians (i.e. toads, which I encourage in the garden to keep down pests). As to whether there might be an unknown long-term health effect on humans from using a broad-spectrum herbicide, that's one more thing I don't have to think about by not using Preen....See MorePreen Mulch
Comments (2)It will have NO effect on established plants....regardless of type (and that includes weeds!!). It contains a pre-emergent herbicide that prevents seeds from germinating and developing properly but has no effect on already growing/established plants....See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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