Broad spectrum Pre-emergent herbicide for Buffalo grass lawn - Ask Extension
Hi, I live in Watkins Colorado, on the Plains just East of Aurora.
I have a large Buffalo Grass lawn, and as I'm getting older, it's more difficult f...
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Broad spectrum Pre-emergent herbicide for Buffalo grass lawn #836734
Asked June 20, 2023, 9:05 PM EDT
Hi, I live in Watkins Colorado, on the Plains just East of Aurora.
I have a large Buffalo Grass lawn, and as I'm getting older, it's more difficult for me to hand pull weeds.
Can you recommend a good GRANULAR / BROAD SPECTRUM pre-emergent herbicide to control most or all weeds?
I would also like to use it around my trees (Mostly pine, spruce & fir) to keep the weeds out of them as well.
-Also, if there is a post-emergent herbicide that doesn't injure or kill Buffalo Grass, please let me know.
If there are less expensive brands for pre & post emergent herbicides, that would also be helpful. Thank you!
Arapahoe County Colorado
Expert Response
Below are two great resources regarding Buffalograss lawns. One is from Colorado State University, the other is from next door at the University of Nebraska. The information is broad and includes management, fertilization, watering, mowing, weed management, and insect/disease management. Both speak to pre- and post-emergent herbicides for Buffalograss.
https://turf.unl.edu/NebGuides/ManageBuffalograssTurfNE_g1947.pdf
Dr. Alison O’Connor at CSU has provided information on the use of herbicides around trees. Please read this prior to applying anything around your trees.
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/656.pdfRegarding the cost, you would need to call for pricing. Big box stores, independent lawn & garden centers, Mudoch’s, Big-R Stores, Agfinity are a few that would source these products and could also let you know liquid vs. granular forms. Finally, there is a website called Do My Own where homeowners can source lawn and garden needs at lower prices.
https://www.domyown.com/Finally, you didn’t mention how large your property is. If it is a small acreage (2 to 100 acres), CSU offers a SAM Program (Small Acreage Management) with a lot of resources. One in particular is the Small Acreage Services Database where you can find contractors for a variety of small acreage services.
https://sam.extension.colostate.edu/topics/resources/
Hello,
This info may be useful for you.
Bottom line up-front (BLUF): Ponderosa Pines are very tough evergreens.
We've lived in Watkins Colorado for 20 years now.
We had a bad hailstorm on 29 June 2023 causing large amounts of damage to our home and trees.
We are in "Hail Alley", and this also happened in 2020, and 2015 (I think).
It is very difficult for trees to survive here due to the hail, wind, drought, excessive water, cold, heavy snow & ice storms (It hit -19 degrees F in January I think, this year).
We have 2 Ponderosas on our property, and they are the only trees that made it thru the hail storms with little to no evidence of damage.
I suspect the long needles helped them absorb the impact of the hail better than the short needle trees.
I'm sending this to you because I've never seen anything that suggested the Pondarosas are good trees for out here, and if people knew how great they are, they would save a lot of money, effort, time & water. Maybe you could help spread the word.
Here is some other info about how our trees held up over the years...
We have a bunch of Austrian Pines that did OK, but definitely lost needles on the North side (Direction the hail came from),
The last remaining fir tree didn't make it, totally dead now. It's been struggling for years, and that was the last straw. We had 4 firs, all died over the years.
Several of our beautiful Blue Spruce trees are in pretty bad shape now, many needles are gone. I don't know if they'll make it. They've been struggling the past 2 years.
We have 2 Scotch Pines, one was protected behind my barn, and is fine. The other lost a lot of needles on the North side. It might make it.
We had 3 Norway Spruce that died after 2 years, about 12 years ago.
As for as deciduous trees, the only ones that are still standing (With an in-tact trunk) are a couple locust trees. One of them has been struggling for ten years, the other one is in decent shape. The leaves on both of them came back after the June 29 hail storm. Both of them have had entire branches die for no apparent reason over the years.
On a side note, the Locust trees have actually spawned 2 saplings from seed on their own. One of them was almost entirely eaten by an antelope (I think) and has fully recovered. These are the ONLY trees that have germinated here. Amazing!
My Ash, Maple & Elm? trees all died years ago. I had 3 crimson leaf trees (non-Fruit bearing plums, or something like that) where I believe voles ate the tap roots. Two are still alive, but only the sappers remain (The trunks died). They're bushes now.
I also planted 2 Aspen, which died immediately.
We've lost 90% of the trees we've planted over the last 20 years, and the 2 Ponderosas are the only two that seem to be thriving.
Have a nice day!
Carl Wagener
On 6/22/2023 8:35 AM, Ask Extension wrote:
Thank you for sharing your experience. Unfortunately, landscape plants can sometimes be trial and error of what works and what doesn't as we experience extreme conditions.
No plant is 'hail proof', but the less surface area there is on a leaf, the lower the impact of hail. Pine needles have very minimal surface area, thus, less hail damage. The Austrian pines, with sparser needles, likely exposed the bud below the fascicle which was damaged by the hail.
Ponderosas are considered a low water tree, and are quite drought tolerant once established. They are one of Colorado’s major native tree species which also includes bristlecone pine, Colorado blue spruce, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, limber pine, lodgepole pine, narrowleaf cottonwood, quaking aspen*, piñon pine, plains cottonwood, ponderosa pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, subalpine fir and white fir just to name a few.
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/native-trees-for-colorado-landscapes-7-421/
*Aspen should never be planted below 9,000 feet, and they prefer extremely rocky soil and a lot of water.
Even native trees are challenged to survive tough elements like what has occurred in Watkins the past several years. If Ponderosas survived your area well, I would be inclined to plant more of them.
No plant is 'hail proof', but the less surface area there is on a leaf, the lower the impact of hail. Pine needles have very minimal surface area, thus, less hail damage. The Austrian pines, with sparser needles, likely exposed the bud below the fascicle which was damaged by the hail.
Ponderosas are considered a low water tree, and are quite drought tolerant once established. They are one of Colorado’s major native tree species which also includes bristlecone pine, Colorado blue spruce, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, limber pine, lodgepole pine, narrowleaf cottonwood, quaking aspen*, piñon pine, plains cottonwood, ponderosa pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, subalpine fir and white fir just to name a few.
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/native-trees-for-colorado-landscapes-7-421/
*Aspen should never be planted below 9,000 feet, and they prefer extremely rocky soil and a lot of water.
Even native trees are challenged to survive tough elements like what has occurred in Watkins the past several years. If Ponderosas survived your area well, I would be inclined to plant more of them.
Hello, My Wife & I bought 7.5 acres in the "Chaparral Subdivision" in Elbert county, Northeast of Kiowa. -The address is 23750 Jasper Trail, Deer Trail, Colorado. The property has many Ponderosa Pines, some are probably nearly 80 to 100 feet tall (It's hard to tell how tall they are without a reference). The property moderately slopes downward toward the Southeast, and we were told that during heavy rain, a LOT of water runs down the property. Over the mellennia, some pretty big gullies have developed, two are nearly 8 feet deep. The overall slope isn't very steep, but the sides of the gullies are fairly steep. Some of the tree roots are exposed, and some are at the bottom of the gullies. We are thinking about filling in some of the gullies to slow down the torrential water, and to try prevent further erosion. Also, we need to put a driveway on the property, which may require a bridge over the gullies, or to fill them in in several places. My brother suggested that we build a series of berms or swales with rocks contained in a sturdy wire mesh. I can't remember the name for this type of "dam". Before we even attempt this, I wanted to ask if this might hurt the trees (Would the roots be too wet and rot?). Also, would we need to put in soil from the property at the bottom of the gullies, or just fill them with some sort of rocks. Do you know if there is a "Best Practice" for this type of situation? Thank you for your assistance, Carl Wagener<personal data hidden> (Cell)
The Small Acreage Management Coordinator is Jennifer Cook at<personal data hidden> or email <personal data hidden> for assistance.
There is a menu for Small Acreage Contractors for erosion control, irrigation, supplies, etc. The erosion control contractors will have the expertise that you are needing.
You can also re-enter your new Ask Extension question at the following link, and your question will be routed by CSU to the best ‘expert’ for your needs. By continuing to use this old message thread, your question is not getting to the right person:
https://ask2.extension.org/open.php
Thank you,
