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Hannah Mathers, Ohio State University Extension, Horticulture and Crop Science |
A chemical weed control program for a commercial field stock nursery may include four parts (Mathers and Leidenfrost, 1995). The four parts may not be required in all situations or may not be advantageous in all types of ornamental operations.
The first component is a preplant application of a postemergent such as Glyphosate. Preplant, postemergents are applied to the top growth of weeds prior to working the soil and planting the nursery stock. Second is an application of preplant soil fumigant, and the third, a preplant application of a preemergent.
There are few preplant, preemergents registered for use in ornamental nurseries. One that is, however, is Treflan. Treflan applications can be made and incorporated from three weeks before planting to the time of planting. Treflan controls broadleaf and grass seedlings just after germination. Do not apply to wet soils or soils high in organic matter. The fourth part of the chemical control program will consist of postplant application(s) with selective herbicides. Applications of selective herbicides used either for post or preemergence weed control can be applied over or between established ornamental crops, depending upon what the label reads (Mathers and Leidenfrost, 1995).