Viewing post #293189 by CindiKS

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Jul 30, 2012 7:51 AM CST
Name: Cindi
Wichita, Kansas (Zone 7a)
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If you are using preen (or any other brand of preemergent herbicide), plant the iris first, then sprinkle the herbicide. If you plant afterwards, you are disturbing the soil and potentially unearthing weed seeds. The chemical is extended-release, but since you have a choice, planting first gives you the best results.
In a perfect world, the bed is planted and completely weeded or hoed in the spring, and preen applied then before weeds really get started. The bed is then left undisturbed for the season. But...we all add more plants, and that brings up new seeds. If you are planting seeds in a bed, wait until the seedlings are up and have real leaves before applying the Preen. Of course by then, you'll have weeds springing up and you'll have to weed very carefully.
I have a friend who sprays Roundup right over the iris bed in the summer well after the iris have bloomed. The iris are resting at that stage and are pretty much unaffected, and the weeds are killed. He doesn't have plants other than iris in that bed. My beds are mixed, so I haven't tried using Roundup. It works for him, though, and it's cheaper and faster than Preen or Snapshot.
We didn't have much of a winter here this year, and some of the weeds never died down. The Preen lasts about 3 months, (less than that in extreme heat) but our growing season is long enough I have to use it twice. Snapshot is expensive, but it lasts so much longer that it's worth it. The heat has been so horrendous that many of the weeds have died off! It was over 100 every day in July, with only .13 (yes you read that right, just over one-tenth of an inch) of rain for the month. My iris are now putting up new fans, even without rain or irrigation. What troupers!
The forecast is for temps of 106-108 for the next 10 days, so I hope none of my orders arrive for at least another 2 weeks.
Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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