Preen

6 comments for “Preen”

1. I would be very interested in any and all replies.  We had an experience at my church of scattering Preen (to kill weeds) over a daffodil bed after the daffs had put themselves back into their beds last spring.  Completely dormant, two seasons down and beautiful blooms both years. This year, less than 1 percent of the daffs came back.  Soil tests  show all is well in that department.

   
   

   Regards, John Lipscomb,  Georgia Daffodil Society

   
   

2. I Must say that my experience with Preen has been similar though not quite as devastating as John reports. In my experience, about 25% of the newly planted bulbs from the previous fall planting came back after preen was used just prior to their first flowering. Also, some well established clumps were drastically reduced.
   In conversation with Lynn Ladd (from the East Tennessee Daffodil Society area) that same year, I found that she had a similar experience.
   I will just continue my successful treatment of weeds with Roundup.
   Tom Stettner Southwest Ohio – Cincinnati
   John Lipscomb wrote:

3. Hope you are not offended by this, but………..I just don’t understand why ANYONE in today’s world would still be using chemicals.  I’d be getting rid of that yard man.  Look how much $ he cost.  Just hire the MG’s; they cannot cost any more than what the yard man destroyed. Linda

4. Preen is a Brand Name and there are MULTIPLE weed killer/weed preventer chemicals sold under the Preen Label. Do you still have some of the “Preen” that was used? Did you know that someone was supposed to have recorded how much was used. The date used and EXACTLY what chemical was used at the church? Check out the link below.

    

   http://www.preen.com/products/preen-lawn-weed-killer/plants

    

   You HAVE to use ANY chemical only according to label directions and this includes the types of plants you can use it on and the amount of chemical used per square foot.

    

   If you pull up the Preen weed killer page and check out the chemicals ONE is a 2% ready to use solution of Glyphosate or generic Round-UP that is deadly to daffodils.

    

   Another/second type of “Preen” weed preventer/killer can be checked on the above link and if you type in Daffodil it specifically says NOT to USE THIS one on daffodils either.

    

   MANY companies in the USA are NOW selling totally different weed killers under the EXACT same “COMMON” chemical name BUT you have to read the label to actually see the TRUE chemical composition and % that is used under this one label.

    

   You HAVE to search each chemical and see what plants it can be used around. Our MG planted more than 1,000 daffodil bulbs at our local cancer center this past fall. They have been blooming beautifully now for weeks. BUT the yard man sprayed a liquid or dumped in a granular application in all of the beds with a “weed killer” three weeks ago. It killed ALL of the strawberry plants our Master Gardeners planted for the kids to pick in the flower beds and it appears to have SEVERELY injured HUNDREDS of the one year old shrubs used all around the entire cancer center complex. They sprayed ACRES of flower beds in the entire Hospital, cancer center and physical therapy complex. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas

5. Interesting comments about Preen. I’ve been using it for years, and have never considered that my bulb decline may have been caused by using it. I’ll have to re-think that now. Mary Lou

6. Back when I was the chair for the Whetstone Daffodil Garden, I assisted a professor from Ohio State University in conducting an experiment with pre-emergence herbicides.  The one that controlled weed seed germination best was Surflan.  It had absolutely no effect on the bulbs in that portion of the bed where it was used.  From then, I have used Surflan in the fall every two to three years and other weeds that come up from roots left in the ground are treated with Roundup squirted on the weeds, which usually were Canadian thistle and dandelions.  This works fine and I do the weed control at times when I have little else to do – after the bulbs are planted and after bloom time.  I have never used Preen.  I did go to several sites on Preen and after I read what they said and saw how many products were sold under the Preen label, was more confused than before.  None of the sites said how or when to use it.  At that point, I decided not to change what was working for me.

   Donna Dietsch

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