Would preen cause problems later with planting trees or a vegetable garden?Originally Posted by Jim Becker
[OP]
Contributor
Would preen cause problems later with planting trees or a vegetable garden?
Contributor
I use herbicidal vinegar, 20-30% acetic acid. It works for me in my situation. You should evaluate whether it suits yours. Here’s a link to one article - there are many others. LINK
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
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Preen prevents seed germination. I do not know if it will adversely affect putting actual plants in the ground...I suspect not, but it would be a good idea to check. BTW, Preen is currently on sale at Costco.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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I cover my beds with preen every spring @ 32lbs before my landscaping guy mulches then I plant annuals afterwards. . 24 yards of mulch this year,, I have a landscaping addiction. Brian
Brian
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24 yards of mulch!!! That's gotta be a couple truckloads.
Do you start your own annuals fromm seed?
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I admitted I am a landscaping addict! I'm 67 so I pay a guy to do this.. His crew swarms the yard for @ 4-5 hours. We have a shade garden, perennial cutting garden , herb garden, lavender bed along with all the shrubs and trees. Zinnias mostly from seed, more lavender this year and 36 caladium bulbs we start early. Thanks brian
Brian
Contributor
Several years ago I refreshed my mulch, and rather than pay money for it, I used getchipdrop. I think I estimated that it was close to 30 yards - the somewhat annoying thing is that since it comes from a tree service, they have their machines that shoot the mulch high into there covered truck, so a truck can carry a lot more than one might be able to reasonably load in other trucks. I liked the fact it was free, liked less that I didn't have a lot of say in how much I would get, and the quality of some of it wasn't great (decent sized chunks of wood, and not mulch). Plus side is I got plenty of mulch to cover every inch of my yard with several inches.
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We've planted liriope and pachysandra in some beds or it would be worse. Brian
Brian
Moderator
The issue with fresh, uncomposted chipping is that it can mess with the soil in a negative way, pulling out nitrogen, etc., out. So it's great for "those areas" that are not intended for planting, but not advisable for areas that are considered gardens. It's best to use composted mulch for that.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
Add me to the former user of weed fabric crowd. The stuff just makes the situation worse. I found that the weeds actually anchored themselves in the fabric, where as with the mulched beds, as someone else posted, the weeds root in the loose mulch and can be pulled or removed with any weeder device easily. (I favor the stirrup weeders, and have several of them in various lengths and configurations. Highly recommended).
For the rock and beds, which I have surrounding the house foundation, I've used a weed burner to hit the ones I want to get rid of(I let the desirable stuff grow, like violets, wood aster, ferns. I think they look nice in the rocks). Easy, and admittedly rather satisfying.
Ken
Moderator
For general beds, I actually agree about eschewing the weed barrier material because it does cause issues over time...and our dog likes to dig it up. But for beds that have stone, you kinda have to use some kind of geotextile in the base to keep soil from leaching up through the stones and the stones sinking down into the soil. It's the same issue as when building a stone driveway or a dry lot paddock for livestock...soil moves.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
[OP]
Contributor
Sounds like I just need to plant a Fairytale Forest in my yard. Those seem to be low-maintenance. Might be a problem keeping it watered here on the front range...
Contributor
I would think so. My folks lived just North of you in Parker for a number of years. It was so dry they struggled to get anything to grow. They also had to supplement the soil with organic matter to create a hospitable environment for growing plants. They thought they'd set up a compost pile like we had in Michigan. Nope. Too dry and nothing would rot.
Sharp solves all manner of problems.
Contributor
I will say that 18 years ago we put in rock beds. At the time I used a heavy professional grade weed blocking fabric under the rocks. I get a few weeds but by and large it's still there, doing a great job of keeping the beds fairly weed free.
Contributor
Good point, Jim. I haven't found this to be a problem here, possibly because my rock beds are immediately surrounding the foundation, so maybe the ground is compacted enough? But for the rocks I use for borders at other places, they sure do sink in. I periodically move these as I slowly extend beds, so still don't use fabric....I've really gotten to loathe the stuff. I guess it's personal now
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