It's that time again... Barricade/Monument application

Fairway Barricade/Monument application, mixing in the field to increase productivity 

#6 Tee surround showing foam marker dots from application

As you all may have noticed, the temperatures have dropped, the days are getting shorter, and the turf growth has slowed down.  It is time for our yearly *Barricade pre-emergent herbicide application.  In most areas of the country with Bermudagrass the normal M.O. is to wait for dormancy to be reached before making the application of pre-emergents, due to their mode of action being rooting inhibition.  Since Corpus Christi is so far south we rarely see the temperatures dip below freezing, or have our soil temperatures cool enough to trigger full dormancy in our Bermuda stand.  A general rule of thumb is adding your daily high/low temps and if they are above 150 you'll remain at the cusp or outside the realm of dormancy, if they are consistently below 150 you are more likely to see dormancy.  This being said January/February are the coldest months in our region, and the bottom of our growth curve.  Thus prime time for our application as the plant is less active and the root system is less likely to be harmed by the application.  We also choose to apply *Monument a post-emergent herbicide for control of Poa annua, and some broadleaf weeds.  In areas where the broadleaf weeds may be more stubborn (clover, ragweed, shepherdspurse) we add *2,4D to our tank mix to get a quicker kill on them.

 Barricade 10 gallon link tote

*Barricade (Prodiamine/Syngenta) is a broad spectrum pre-emergence herbicide for use in turfgrass, landscape and nursery stock applications.

Monument 250 gram box

*Monument (Trifloxysulfuron sodium/Syngenta) is a post-emergence herbicide for control of certain broadleaf, sedge, and grass weeds in warm season turf.  It sees most of its use in the control of Poa annua (a winter cool season grassy weed).  In climates that achieve dormancy, Round-up (Glyphosate) can be used in place of Monument to control the weeds it targets.  Since we do not reach dormancy Monument provides the best results for us.  Monument acts via a novel mode of action (ALS inhibitor) prohibiting certain sets of amino acids from being synthesized, thus ceasing growth of the plant.  It generally takes 5-7 days to observe the effects of an application, with the death resulting in approximately 2 or 3 weeks.

*2,4D Trimec Southern (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid/PBI Gordon)  is a broad spectrum selective post-emergence herbicide for broadleaf weeds.  It is a synthetic auxin, and is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world since its synthesis, and introduction to the market.


This application should be wrapped up by Monday, January 30, 2012 leaving us ready for yet another beautiful, green, and (mostly) weed free golf season.