Title: Herbicide and mulch interactions: A review of the literature and implications for the landscape maintenance industry

Abstract: Use of organic mulch is one of the most common methods of weed control in landscape planting beds and provides other benefits including improving soil characteristics, increasing growth of ornamental plants, and enhancing property aesthetics. In the landscape maintenance industry, it is common to apply mulch and herbicides concurrently to landscape beds in order to provide long-term weed broad-spectrum weed control. It is known that different herbicides behave differently when applied to different soil types and organic materials; however, research is lacking concerning which herbicides are most effective with different mulch materials in the landscape. Determining the most effective herbicide-mulch combinations could potentially improve weed control, reduce labor costs from hand weeding, and mitigate negative environmental impacts resulting from off-site herbicide movement. Objective of this paper is to review the research that has been conducted pertaining to various mulch-herbicide combinations in the landscape and in other areas of agricultural production while also identifying key knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future research. Review of the literature suggests satisfactory weed control can be achieved with high mulch depths (>7 cm) regardless of herbicide use, and herbicide-mulch interactions become more pronounced as mulch depth decreases. Additionally, this review indicates that future research is needed to determine which herbicides are best suited for different mulch types in order to improve weed control and potentially reduce environmental impacts including herbicide leaching and runoff into urban and suburban water bodies. [Chris Marble (2015). Herbicide and mulch interactions: A review of the literature and implications for the landscape maintenance industry. Weed Technology, In-Press.] Comment

Keywords: landscape planting bed, ornamentals, residential area, planting bed

Original source



Article: WeedsNews5349 (permalink)
Categories: :WeedsNews:mulch, :WeedsNews:research alert, :WeedsNews:urban weeds, :WeedsNews:herbicide reduction
Date: 15 March 2015; 10:45:03 am Australian Eastern Daylight Time

Author Name: David Low
Author ID: adminDavid