Pre-emergent herbicide applications can do wonders for controlling winter and summer annual weeds. And although those herbicides provide extended residual control, they do not compromise stress tolerance in warm-season turf, which is good to know for superintendents who manage golf courses with brisk autumn play.
That's the verdict of a recent University of Tennessee study.
The study, conducted in 2012-2013, examined the effects of four common herbicides (indaziflam, prodiamine, pendimethalin, oxadiazon) on traffic tolerance of established, weed-free Tifway Bermudagrass.
Treatments were made at eight-week intervals in early March and early May and were watered in within 24 hours.
A total of 18 simulated traffic events, three per week, using a CADY simulator were applied from late August to late September in both years of the study. Turf was mowed three days per week using a Jacobsen triplex greens mower.
The UT research team noted no significant differences in turf cover between any of the treatments in either year of the study, leading them to conclude that pre-emergent herbicides, or at least the active ingredients in this study, can be applied in spring without compromising the turf's natural traffic tolerance traits in fall.
