Step aside, politicians! The real debate is whether you should use liquid or granular weed killers!
When you go to the hardware store or garden center to pick up your bag of “weed and feed”, you’ve probably noticed that there are many liquid weed killers sitting on the shelf. You probably even have a bottle or two sitting on a shelf in your garage.
In my garden center days, I was often asked which one is better for killing weeds, liquid or granular weed killers.
The absolute most effective is going to be the liquid weed killers. When you spray weeds, the liquid can coat even the smallest of leaf surfaces. This ensures the most effective way to control those pesky weeds growing in your lawn or flower beds. When following the label and done correctly, you’ll see an 80% or better control of weeds in your lawn.
Now on the other hand, granular weed killers such as the ones found in a bag of weed and feed, often have a significantly less rate of effectiveness. The first thing to know is that the grass must be wet or damp for the granule to stick to it. So this means you must apply in the morning when there is dew, after it rains or after you water thelawn. The second thing to remember is the weed killer granule must actually stick to the leaf of the weed that you are trying to kill. Some weed leaves are smaller than your pinky fingernail. You can only imagine the difficulty of success of a granule the size of a cracker crumb trying to stick to these leaves.
Now you are asking “why should I even buy a bag of weed and feed?” Keep in mind that you often times have to mix the liquid weed killers with water. Many customers that I’ve had are reluctant to do so. There is also greater risk of have the liquid weed killer “drift” on a windy day, potentially killing flowers that are planted near the areas that you are treating. Check out the blog post called 5 simple rules for applying weed killers to the lawn, for safe instructions.
Well there you have it. Everything you need to know to end the debate!