Thursday, August 29, 2013

Vegetation Control Options for Industrial Sites

Hi Lou

Regarding vegetation treatments for your industrial site.
Under the Cosmetic Pesticide Ban, there are limited options for non-selective herbicides to treat areas where no vegetation is wanted.

Even prior to the ban, most products that would prevent any regrowth for 4-6 months had been discontinued. Those types of products while effective, did their work by staying in the soil for an extended period of time. The downside of those products was that they effectively contaminated the soil for a period of time.

Now after the Ban, products like Roundup can only be used in situations where there are poisonous plants like poison ivy or where there is legislation mandating the removal of vegetation. This would be on sites where there are flammable products stored or near electric transformers.

Most industrial sites do not qualify for the use of Roundup. Even Roundup, will only control any existing plants and does not prevent any seedlings from germinating 2 days after treatment. The only advantage of Roundup is that is does control the weeds right down to the roots.

The products that can be use currently are basically products that kill off the top growth. For young seedlings, killing the top of the plant, the green parts is often enough to kill the plant. On more mature weeds, killing the top part often still allows the plant to regrow from the roots. Compared to merely mowing down the top of the plants, these herbicides will allow some additional time before regrowth happens, but for more complete control, the herbicide would need to be applied anywhere from 3 to 6 times per year.

Depending on your industrial site, it may be possible to reduce weed growth by investing in other methods of control. These are not always permanent solutions and they may not be worth the investment. Of course, depending on the circumstances and the situation, not all are appropriate. 

Some possibilities include:
Paving the area- weeds will then only grow where the asphalt meets the building or curb.
Removing the soil and installing landscape fabric and stone mulch or gravel. This will be sufficient for some time, but weeds seeds will eventually grow in gravel or mulch also.
Sodding- Sometimes a lawn is less maintenance- because it get mowed regularly.
Dense ground cover or shrubbery that does not grow too high but is vigorous enough to keep weeds out.



--
Gerry Okimi
Turf King Hamilton Halton Haldimand
95 Hempstead Dr Unit 14, Hamilton ON L8W 2Y6
905.318.6677
Website: http://www.turf-king.ca/
Email: hamilton@turf-king.ca
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