We look after an over 50's complex with a good run of planted borders.
This is our first year, and we've spent alot of time weeding, we think we can put some of that time to better use. We've been invited to quote to come back next year, always a good sign, and I've been thinking about the annual weed situation.
Chemical spraying has been all but outlawed as the residents don't like the idea of spraying on plant beds, so I am looking for an alternative solution. I've come across granular pre emegrents, Kerb Granules comes to mind, and wondered if they could be the solution - apply granules before the weeds start next season to help keep them down.
I've read somewhere else that they have persistence and may wash on to the paths, and then cause issues when people walk the paths and grassed areas.
Does anyone have experience of using granules and do's and don'ts?
Thanks.
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Yes the Kerb granules can be good at keeping weeds down and reducing the weed burden for the spring.
Be careful about lodging granules in the foliage, applying near watercourses or drains. Not sure about staining on hard surfaces but be careful about applying near newly planted or young plants as their root system might take up the residual herbicide in the top crust or layer of soil and kill it.
Kerb Flo is the liquid - sprayable equivalent of the granules and goes further plus it can be tank mixed to widen its weed 'hit list'
I can't speak of pre emergents but as a different approach, how about a mulch? I have a few maintenance customers with huge lengths of borders. They would never pay for total weeding, and I wouldnt fancy doing it, but we reached agreement about compost. I dump all their leaves and grasscuttings on the compost and after around 12 months (maybe a little more so it is not recognisable as leaf/grass), it is wet enough and heavy emough not to blow around then I mulch it onto the borders. It isn't properly composted but it works a treat as mulch. Following a winter application , I just race along with the hoe now and again knocking out any fresh weeds. It works for me anyway!
Just a side comment - engage them in agreeing a multi year contract with the specification clear about long term management of the landscape (ie shrubs, weeds, improvements etc).
Then you look to invest in long term solutions to their problems ...If you don’t, the site will just go around circles with the incumbent contractor having no incentive to look past their current tenure ... and likely it will awarded to latest ‘cheapest’ contractor- a recipe for poor site
Thanks Gary, I had looked at next year, but only next year with a view to managing the site in a better way - previous contractor refused to work after October and before March - how does that work?
Also spent much time weeding and less time maintaining, which has left us picking up the tab for sorting out the shrubs this year. I didn't see that coming, put it down to experience, so having a longer term plan is worth exploring.
Tony -- if you use compost tumblers you can get leaf and grass into a 'mulch' state within 3-8 weeks, depending on temperature and size of debris.
Doesnt work on a big sight unless they want to buy the expensive large tumblers but its incredible how fast you can generate mulch or compost using tumblers.
Bit of flip side on this one Tony, they want to pay for the weeding, we would rather cut back on it and put the time in elsewhere!
It is quite a 'prim and proper' site, they like all the leaves removed and beds spotless, I had thought about mulch bark - I think we would end up spending too much time blowing/ brushing it back on the borders. Mulching isn't and option on this one, although we do it on other sites, shred the waste and put on the borders.
Why would they be ok with granules but not a spray? U suspect you'd have the same issues, and if it were me I'd do a residual spray treatment at the start of the season.
The only issue is that you can't hoe/rake over the beds if you do, so they'll get compacted an coated with algae over time unless you want to ruin the efficacy of the residual.
Yeah, I am begining to think I may have to push this a bit more, mulch isn't an option on this site, so either we carry on weeding, or we use a chemcial process.
Dan the residents seem to have some pathalogical dislike of spraying - no back packs etc. That said, I did push it earlier in the season and they said they may reconsider. My idea revolved around being able to apply the chemicals but not with a sprayer, and add in a bit of education.
Just going back to the hoe/ rake issue - not being able to do that would be a problem. I expected the pre emergent would be held in the soil rather than on the surface, and so I could hoe or hand fork it over to keep it tidy without affecting the ability of the pre emergent to do its job - have I got that wrong?