Preen or other pre emergent weed killer

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:26 pm

I am sorry if this is already covered in a previous thread and if it was could someone point me in the right direction, but I was wondering if it is safe to use a pre emergent weed killer (such as preen) among succulents? Also I wanted to know what others do to prevent weeds. I have my plants in an outdoor planting bed and I don't do the maintenance that I should. This spring my succulents were strangled with weeds so I lifted all but the largest ones and separated some but was basically trying to get rid of the weeds. My main nemesis is oxalis and grass, any tips would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I love the site I have learned quite a bit already.

hablu · Post by **hablu** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:18 pm

Hi Max, welcome here.
Don't. just take better care of your plantbeds.

Harry

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:35 pm

hablu wrote:Hi Max, welcome here.
Don't. just take better care of your plantbeds.

Harry

I know I need to take better care of my plants but I wanted to know if any of the members here had some tips for me. Aside from lose my job and devote all my time to my plants

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:59 pm

I am new to growing succulents and I don't think at this time I will have the dedication that some of the members of this forum have but I was looking for advice as to how to control weeds. Hey give me time I am only 29 years old and from what I have read on this forum you can get addicted pretty easily. I have a small yard so I mostly favor small flowering cacti. I live in San Francisco which is a marine influenced environment (lots of fog) but the average temperature stays between 50* and 75* F. I wanted to know if their are any tips that growers can give me to control weeds now that I have recently lifted all but my largest plants.

Buck Hemenway · Post by **Buck Hemenway** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:26 am

The pre-emergent will not harm the growing plants. It will stop seed germination of most plants incuding any succulents that might want to sprout.

We do this: Buy some Decomposed Granite from you local materials (rock, sand etc.) dealer. Remove the actively growing weeds and top dress your planting with about 1" thick of the DG. It ends up looking like a desert and completely supresses the weeds that are in the soil. You'll still get some blowing in, but 2 or 3 weedings a year (before they set seed) will keep your garden looking nice. Be sure you go to the yard and look at what you are getting.

Check out my method Click Here

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:10 am

Buck Hemenway wrote:
We do this: Buy some Decomposed Granite from you local materials (rock, sand etc.) dealer. Remove the actively growing weeds and top dress your planting with about 1" thick of the DG. It ends up looking like a desert and completely supresses the weeds that are in the soil. You'll still get some blowing in, but 2 or 3 weedings a year (before they set seed) will keep your garden looking nice. Be sure you go to the yard and look at what you are getting.

Check out my method Click Here

Do you top dress with 1" Decomposed Granite every year? I should also mention that I am really a rose guy so my roses come first. Their will always be seeds blowing in from nearby beds. I currently top dress my succulent bed with a product called salmon bay pebble because I love the look, especially when wet. The only problem is it is $600 a ton delivered.

So I was hoping to find a chemical cure all

Does the Decomposed Granite pack down so seeds can't get down to the soil?

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:30 am

Hello Max, and Welcome.

I don;t put any weed killer on my weeds, I just pull them out because weed killer is harmful to the plants.

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:13 am

Saguaro123 wrote:Hello Max, and Welcome.

I don;t put any weed killer on my weeds, I just pull them out because weed killer is harmful to the plants.

I would if I could but I like the multi plant look and most of my suculents have spines that make weeding by hand very difficult and painful.

I have heard of people using tweezers or forceps, but that is too time consuming for me. I guess that I just have to suck it up and take care of my plants the old fashion way.

eduart · Post by **eduart** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 5:11 am

Hi there,

(...) take care of my plants the old fashion way.

It always works

, weed killer tend to weaken the root systems, especially of the young plants and seedlings. However, weeding is easy when there is a layer of gravel if checked on a regular basis.

Cheers,

Eduart

iann · Post by **iann** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:48 pm

Pre-emergents stop seeds germinating, or more accurately they kill the embryos at an early stage of germination. They don't do anything to adult plants. You can convince yourself of this by deliberately treating one of your less favourite plants with the Preen.

mad max · Post by **mad max** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:37 pm

iann wrote:Pre-emergents stop seeds germinating, or more accurately they kill the embryos at an early stage of germination. They don't do anything to adult plants. You can convince yourself of this by deliberately treating one of your less favourite plants with the Preen.

Thanks thats what I thought, but the label on the preen gives a whole list of plants that are recommended to be used with the product but doesn't explicitly say succulents. I am putting the preen around my suculents so I will see what happens. Thanks to everone for their responses

and I will certainly update everyone if something bad happens.

Max

Buck Hemenway · Post by **Buck Hemenway** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:18 am

mad max wrote: Do you top dress with 1" Decomposed Granite every year?

No just once when the bed is made. The DG (which is less than $500 per truck and trailer load) completley supresses all seed germination (look ma no chemicals). I've used preen, but it is very expensive and is only guaranteed to work for 6 months.

I like to refresh the DG every 4 to 5 years to make the beds look fresh.

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:10 am

I use needle nose pliers. I have some where the needle nose part is about 12 inches and the handle is also about 12 inches. You can stay pretty far away from pokeys and still pull up the little weeds by the roots.