I started putting out preen about a week ago. it won't let seeds sprout - so as long as you do not put it near anything you direct sow you won't have to worry

I definitely put it out right before the maples let loose with the helicopter seeds. The stupid maple weeds drive me buggy!!! :-)

Jen

I get more weeds in my containers than I do in my bed. The strip of garden I'm working on has been bare for a couple of years and still, maybe only two clumps of grass have kind of moved in. I always add a thick layer of mushroom compost when I plant out and weeds stay out.

I have a real hard time with the idea of using chemicals, unless I know for sure that they won't bother the ecosystem in my garden. If it's a chemical designed to kill one thing, I always have to ask myself what else it might kill. If it's going to kill something beneficial, like worms, bees, or even birds, then there has to be another way.

sorry.... I'll go now.

Ok, well, if I take the word "Preen" out of the original post, what do you use, and when do you apply it? I don't HAVE to use Preen, but have only used it one time on a roadside bed with good results, but in my own yard, I could certainly entertain alternatives such as the cornmeal or the 'shroom 'post.

My concern is NOT to affect the newly planted out WS babies.

mm, this will probably only add to your question, but... I think generic term you are looking for is "pre-emergent". Pre-emergents work by not allowing seeds to sprout at all, as opposed to herbicides which kill things that have already sprouted. One of the most common active ingredients in commercial pre-emergents is pendamethalin. When I posed a question similar to yours a couple of years back, donn warned that while pendamethalin primarily inhibits germination, that in "some cases" it can also stunt seedlings. That year, I decided not to chance it and did not spray my beds.

Just yesterday my husband was treating the lawn with pre-emergent. By the time he was finished, he was ready to spray ME too. I let grass get out of control in portions of my beds last year, and I had way too many zinnias in another. Even I lost track yesterday on what I told him to spray, no don't spray, well spray just that part, ...and stay away from those reseeders.

So my plan in the beds that were sprayed....I'm going to plant my seedlings in collars made from half toilet paper tubes, filled with untreated dirt. I use collars to protect from pillbugs anyway, so it won't be that much extra effort. I'm hoping that will give the seedlings a chance to be stronger before they encounter the pre-emergent.

I never remember what's supposed to come up where, and for that matter, I never am sure if something is a weed or not, so I end up never using any weedkillers. And I think Preen is a no-no for me since I have some bulbs too.

So I tend to have quite a lot of weeds.

But nothing nasty like nettles or poison ivy (knock on wood).

I have used corn gluten meal for the past 4-5 years.
It is hog/sheep/chicken feed and also Preen Vegetable Garden Weed Control. I don't know what's in regular Preen never used it.
I get it at the feed store, they have granular you can apply with a broadcast spreader or the traditional feed is a a gritty yellow/orange powder form and I can toss that, make a line around the edging. (granular costs more)
This also is a slow release 10% nitrogen for the plants.
Last season I have it marked as application date of first week of March.
I garden by the moon, so this week is the week to apply.
I also marked for this year to apply again every 90days. I had a summer weed emergence that I didn't enjoy at all!

Corn meal is a funigcide inhibitor not for seed pre-emergence application.
For the fenced beds I don't rotate due to the deer population, every March I apply cornmeal and dry molasses (horse feed) with my bunny poo and the bed is like new again. Rabbit droppings don't have weed seeds, they digest everything into perfect pellitized slow release manure.
Last year in March when I tossed the corn meal and molasses on the melon patch I had hundreds of honey bees swarm the bed that afternoon.

I would make sure you shroom compost is aged for a year, otherwise it may be too hot for your babies.

Ok, done for now
Sorry for being so long winded!

What I plan on doing is sort of a lasagna style planting. I will use coffee filters around my seedlings and then a couple of sheets of newspaper over the entire bed and on top of that, at least 2 inches of fresh compost. Whatever weed seeds are down there won't get enough light to break through. Even if an occasional weed does grow there, it doesn't take anything to pull it out, because the compost keeps the soil loose.

MM, you asked "When". Spring arrives in Oklahoma over a four week period, so county extension agents won't give a date for when pre-emergent should be applied. The rule of thumb is "when the forsythia begins to bloom." I've also heard, "When the lilacs bud" Either seems to work.

Folks, keep in mind that Preen is a brand name, not a product. There are lots of Preen products out there. There's a weed killer whose main ingredient is glyphosate (Round-up), there's a vegetable garden pre-emergent that uses corn gluten, and I seem to recall their flower garden pre-emergent uses Dithiopyr.

I'd like to issue a challenge to any who choose to use chemicals to learn the generic chemical names of products. If you know the chemical name and it's appropriate usage, you put yourself in a position to use it responsibly. My two cents.

I tried really hard to word that last paragraph so it didn't sound like a soap box. Not sure I was sucessful. Perhaps another way to say it would be

By learning generic chemical names and their appropriate usage, I feel I am in a much better position to use chemicals responsibly when needed. I encourage all gardeners who use chemicals to do the same.

Does that sound better?

Mary Mary quite contrary
How does you garden gorw?
With Silverbells and cockleshells
And Preen in between all the rows!!!