I redid a flower bed at a commercial site that I have. This includes installing all new mulch. It appears the mulch must’ve been contaminated with grass seed. We have sprayed it twice with grass killer but the grass just keeps coming back in the mulch. Any suggestions?
Contaminated mulch
ME Mowing
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I redid a flower bed at a commercial site that I have. This includes installing all new mulch. It appears the mulch must’ve been contaminated with grass seed. We have sprayed it twice with grass killer but the grass just keeps coming back in the mulch. Any suggestions?
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Remove and start over.
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What are you spraying?
What type of grass?
Lots of reasons grass grows in mulch beds. Spraying it once with an effective pesticide should kill the grass and stop it from growing. If it truly is seeds that are growing try a pre.
My hunch is that your grass is creeping into the bed. Why you see lots of concrete curbing down south.
What type of grass?
Lots of reasons grass grows in mulch beds. Spraying it once with an effective pesticide should kill the grass and stop it from growing. If it truly is seeds that are growing try a pre.
My hunch is that your grass is creeping into the bed. Why you see lots of concrete curbing down south.
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Were there weeds in the bed before hand? Were they treated?
I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it is unlikely that seeds will survive in a mulch pile. Mulch is basically compost, there are microbes breaking it down (which is why it is better for plants than stones) and those microbes create heat which kills seeds.
So you need to provide a bit more info. Need to answer BigJ's questions as well.
I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it is unlikely that seeds will survive in a mulch pile. Mulch is basically compost, there are microbes breaking it down (which is why it is better for plants than stones) and those microbes create heat which kills seeds.
So you need to provide a bit more info. Need to answer BigJ's questions as well.
I sprayed the bed with a 2,4d and Roundup combo. I mixed it double strength to make sure to kill the things we wanted killed. I waited 30 days to make sure everything was dead. All the grasses and weeds “burned down” as they were supposed to. After another week to make sure nothing came back I hauled in 10 yards of Mulch. A few weeks later grass started to show in the mulch. We pulled some if it and it was only attached to the mulch, not the ground below. (We have had an unseasonably wet winter/Spring by the way). We pulled what we could. A couple of weeks later it looked like we had planted grass seed so I sprayed with same mixture and everything appeared to burn off, this was Mid March. Around May 1 grass was back again so once more I sprayed it. We worked that property today and the grass looks good enough to use as sod.
Next time hire someone that is certified for spraying herbicides. Or at the very least follow what label says. No need to double the amount.
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Double strength of what? You doubled the rate? That's a violation of the label, a federal law.
Also, doubling the rate doesn't mean increased efficacy.
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What??????
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Skip the water, just apply the full concentrate.
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I can't quote the source but I remember reading that using Roundup less diluted actually made it less effective.
Thanks for eveyones input. The real help truly appreciated. I am not a rookie but thought getting some advice from folks on here might be helpful since you might have a different perspective than the folks I speak to regularly. First of all I did read the label. I always have and do, been doing this since the 90’s. The classes I have attended recommended increasing the amount of the product in very difficult situations. This particular property hadn’t been maintained in many years but they wanted to keep the bushes that were there. Second, I spoke to a couple of local guys that do nothing but spraying and they agreed with the rate I used. I did nothing illegal. Just having a difficult time with this particular job. Thanks again for your input.
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All joking aside, I still have my doubts that the seeds are in the mulch.
Reading the wiki about Bermuda grass rather confirms my doubts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynodon_dactylon
I don't believe you killed the roots entirely.
Reading the wiki about Bermuda grass rather confirms my doubts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynodon_dactylon
I don't believe you killed the roots entirely.
Mark
That makes sense. The second time it came back it was only Bermuda this time. No other grasses or weeds. Do you have any suggestions for a different chemical combo that might work or anything else short of replacing the mulch? A lot if the jobs I am getting thru this particular contract are biz properties that have sat dormant for years and are starting to be used again.
That makes sense. The second time it came back it was only Bermuda this time. No other grasses or weeds. Do you have any suggestions for a different chemical combo that might work or anything else short of replacing the mulch? A lot if the jobs I am getting thru this particular contract are biz properties that have sat dormant for years and are starting to be used again.
Sometimes you can do a light mist and it takes care of the problems. In this case I sprayed more of the Chemical mixture directly against the leaves of the plant and stalks to make sure the desired plants got covered.
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