Innovative Herbicide Application Methods and Their Potential for Use in the Nursery and Landscape Industries
Chemical weed control is an important weed management option in nursery crop production and landscape maintenance. Improved methods of herbicide delivery can increase efficacy of chemical control and minimize off-site movement, applicator exposure, and incorrect herbicide application. Certain innovative technologies show potential for addressing these issues in the nursery industry. Slow-release herbicide tablets have shown promise in container production. Horticultural collars, treated paper, and treated mulch are potential ways of applying herbicides in container crop production and/or landscape maintenance. Horticultural collars contain herbicides between two layers of a carrier such as a landscape fabric. A rapidly degradable paper can be pretreated with an herbicide for a precise application rate. Mulch can be treated with a herbicide prior to use in the landscape for improved weed control. Herbicides applied through the clip-cut pruning system could control weeds selectively in nurseries and landscapes. Each of these methods may address one or more concerns about off-site movement, calibration, and applicator exposure to pesticides.