# Need a weed mitigation plan for flower beds.



## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

So I have a large flower bed in the front of my house. When I moved in it was filled with overgrown boxwoods and some other mature shrubs. I tore them all out 4 years ago and planted 3 "Little Lime" Hydrangeas closest to the home and 5 "Sprinter" boxwoods in front of them.

Every season, I like to fill the area with bedding flowers in the spring and let them take over in the summer. The past 2 years I used ~150 "Supertunias" or "Waves". The plants are great, spread like crazy and flower beautifully, however by end of July, there are a ton of weeds throughout the bed. By that point there is little i can do. Hand pulling is really the only option since they are so intermixed with desirable plants.

You cannot really see them from the street since the petunias still dominate, but 1) I know they are there and it drives me nuts and 2) having a ton of weeds that close to the lawn is not a good thing. I want to see if I can mitigate the problem this year.

I have tried mulching heavily, as well as prodiamine (spray from the lawn BEFORE planting bedding plants), but really didnt see a whole lot of result. So I am curious, anyone else do this and solve the problem. I am considering spraying the area with prodiamine when I do the lawn and then using a granular of another prem, possibly something targeted at the landscape immediately AFTER planting. However in searching the google people say you have to be careful with woody shrubs and new plants....

I'm rambling now but any input would be great thanks.


----------



## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Preen.


----------



## ScottW (Sep 16, 2019)

Yeah, I would give Preen a shot. Sprinkle out the granules right after you plant the annuals. It won't eliminate 100% of weeds but should put a big dent in the amount you have to hand pull.


----------



## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

I have heard Preen can damage hydrangeas, but I guess i could just keep it away from them.


----------



## ScottW (Sep 16, 2019)

I have a few blue hydrangeas and one oak leaf and they don't seem particularly bothered by it. Never noticed any ill effects on any of my shrubs.
I don't think I've ever used it around annuals though.


----------



## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Just bought a bag of snapshot dg, basically same as Preen Extended. We'll see how it goes.


----------



## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Preen stops almost 100% of mulch bed weeds for me. A single weed will pop up sometimes. You can pluck them as you do your daily or weekly walk of your landscape and have completely weed free beds. I put it down the same time as my lawn pre-m, which was this week. I will add more preen when new mulch goes down in early June.


----------



## bp2878 (Feb 13, 2019)

You guys rake up the mulch before putting down the preen? Probably a dumb question. Also, does anyone use preen in a vegetable garden?


----------



## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

I apply preen on top of mulch, then give it a very light shot of water from the hose.

It is not necessary, but it is a good idea to rake old mulch to move it around. You don't have to get rid of it. Moving it around will get rid of artillery fungus and break up the crusty top layer that some mulches get. If you are going disturb the mulch bed, do it before you apply preen.

Sams club has the best price around here for preen this time of year.


----------



## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

We use preen in our beds with a mix of everything from shrubs to annuals and plenty of perennial plantings. Goes down before we put another fresh layer of pine straw. Seems to work well, just need to remind myself to apply again in June/July as I think we rarely get 3 months out of the regular stuff before I'm pulling one particular weed out weekly.


----------

