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Florida Gardening

how do I save my garden from weed and feed

15 years ago

My garden has rapidly developed browning of leaves on multiple plant species over the last 5 days or so. At first I thought I had a fungus but now I've put 2 and 2 together, I'm pretty sure the lawn service sprayed my garden with an herbacide. There are browned doller weeds in the lawn right up to my garden. Anyway, is there any way to save my plants?

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Comments (12)

featherhoof
15 years ago
It doesn't look good. Those kind of sprays are usually systemic. The granules are sopposed to stop seeds from germinating, too. I'm not too sure about the sprays. It can take somthing like three months or more for the stuff to leech out. You could water like crazy to leech it out faster for next season. There are more folks on this site that are much more educated than me about this stuff and they may have better ideas. Also, did you know that dollar weeds are edible?(or so my herbalist friend tells me) I never ate one, but it looks like your lawn is trying to grow you some food. Good luck!
msmarion
15 years ago
I find it interesting they are spraying weed and feed when nothing is growing due to no rain.
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babalu_aye
15 years ago
It must be some powerful stuff if it can kill dollar weed.

John
beachlily z9a
15 years ago
Obviously there are two ways to eliminate this problem:
1) move your garden much further away from the lawn, and/or
2) get rid of the spray service.

If they are attacking dollar weed, they are probably using a weed killer compatible with your type of lawn.
goldenpond
15 years ago
It probably has Atrazine which is banned in many counties but Tom Mc Cubbin still suggests it for dollarweed. Our Ext office does not want you to use it.
Maybe they don't have a problem with poisoning in the water table where he lives.
gatormomx2
15 years ago
Your plants are toast .
Get rid of the lawn service . They don't know what they are doing .
Live with dollar weeds . If you even have dollarweed right now during a drought ? That means you are watering too much . It is a wet season weed .
From UF : During a dry season -
" Irrigate to wet the soil deeply (8"-12") and less frequently. Avoid light frequent irrigations. Monitor stress carefully. Wait until 60% of turf shows stress to initiate an irrigation. Irrigate early morning or late at night. Over watering when water use is permitted does not improve the quality of the turf. Watch for dry spots and irrigate them with a hose, if permitted."
Take care of the lawn yourself .
Become knowledgeable . Know your chemicals and know your people who are the applicators . Make them show you their pesticide applicator's license and proof of insurance . If they kill your plants with over spray - they are liable for the damage . Good luck collecting though !
Treat your garden as you would your body . Know exactly what you are putting on it or in it just as you would want to know about the side effects of pills you put in your mouth .
Sorry to come down hard on you . Learn from this and be motivated to know as much as possible about what is being done to your property . It is being done to you too at the expense of your wallet and your health and that of the environment and ultimately - to all of us . .
skinnyhoops
15 years ago
Our Middleton man did the same thing about a month ago. He sprayed our lawn for dollarweed, and in the process he sprayed about half of our nasturtiums! The idiot must have thought they were dollar weed because of the round leaves? I ended up having the pull out the effected plants.
featherhoof
15 years ago
I'm with Gatormom.
flgator
Original Author
15 years ago
It looks like the plants are going to pull through. (Dollar weed will probably pull through as well)I lost a lot of leaves off the squash. Funny, the tomatoes weren't affected at all. I just bought this house a few months ago and the service sort of came with the house. As for the dollar weeds, we may be in a drought now but only 6 weeks ago my yard had lots of standing water. The last owner was watering every three days. I have just been watering when the lawn looks like it needs it and not more than twice a week. Much of the lawn is fairly low lying anyway. I may give the service another chance and just make sure they steer clear of the garden.
wally_1936
15 years ago
We use Medina to over come such problems but it needs to be done as soon as you can. It does help offset some damage but you probably are too late now. But will never know unless you try. You may be able to use any soil stimulator
goldenpond
15 years ago
I live with dollar weed.I mean if nasturtium leaves and lily pads look the same then why pick on dollarweed.
I have more of a problem looking at blades of grass standing at attention like soldiers all lined up in rows but,,,,,,,,, thats just me.
linchat
15 years ago
An acquaintance of our family had his house tented for termites and was told it was OK to leave clothes in the house. 6 months later he began to have skin problems and cancer developed. Needless to say when blood tests arrive he was pumped full of poison. It was in his clothes being absorbed through his skin. The people who tinted the house were newbies and used an excessive amount...

My point? If I had a garden, I would not have one of these services or I would make sure it was physically impossible for them to get within 20 feet of my garden. By hey, that is just me. Who knows what you may be ingesting after they leave.

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