The first of September is the month to apply pre-emergent herbicides. So start thinking about it now. These herbicides do one thing and one thing only, they kill seeds. We apply in the spring and fall because that’s when we get the best bang for our buck. The big question is when is the best time? The rule of thumb is from the first of September to the first of November. I try for some time in the first two weeks in September. The kicker is that seeds don’t care what month it is. All they care about is the presence of soil, air and soil temperature, moisture and a specific amount of sunlight. When the conditions are met, the seed will sprout. You should not apply pre-emerge herbicides in the garden when planting seeds. The number one question we ask is how big is your lawn? We are looking for a number.
Pre-emerge herbicides are available in both synthetic and all-natural forms. On the synthetic side is “Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper”. That won’t fit on our receipts so we call it “Dimension”. Dimension targets the grassy weeds and is available in a 12lb and 30lb bag. “Gallery” zeros in on the broadleaf weeds and it’s available in a 10lb bag.
The all-natural is “corn gluten meal”. It’s available in powder and granulated in a 40lb bag. The powder activates faster but is a mess to apply. The granulated is slower to activate but is considerably less of a mess. Our primary vendor for powder CGM was sold the fall of 2014. This put the powdered CGM on the hard to find list. This condition has been remedied and we will have it in stock. As always read and follow the label directions. The following link will help.