Roundup question

[Muse]

Some of my backyard is bare soil for various reasons. Of course, weeds pop up. A lot of grass too from seeds that find their way into the soil. I've been behind on stuff and there's a lot of grass in areas that's gone to seed. I'm wondering what to do about it. Whatever I do about the grass, I don't want its seeds to fall into the soil by the thousands and have a major grass growth from them. I have Roundup.

I'm wondering if spraying Roundup on the grass will kill its seeds. If so, I figure I can just spray and wait for the grass to die, then rake and throw in the compostable refuse bin that gets picked up weekly by the trucks. If Roundup won't kill the seeds, I figure I'll take a really sharp butcher knife, grab the grass and shear off the grass a few inches above the ground... the portion that has the seeds, throw that in the refuse bin and then either rake the rest into my compost pile or hit it with Roundup.

What do you think?

 

[Exterous]

Some of my backyard is bare soil for various reasons. Of course, weeds pop up. A lot of grass too from seeds that find their way into the soil. I've been behind on stuff and there's a lot of grass in areas that's gone to seed. I'm wondering what to do about it. Whatever I do about the grass, I don't want its seeds to fall into the soil by the thousands and have a major grass growth from them. I have Roundup.

I'm wondering if spraying Roundup on the grass will kill its seeds. If so, I figure I can just spray and wait for the grass to die, then rake and throw in the compostable refuse bin that gets picked up weekly by the trucks. If Roundup won't kill the seeds, I figure I'll take a really sharp butcher knife, grab the grass and shear off the grass a few inches above the ground... the portion that has the seeds, throw that in the refuse bin and then either rake the rest into my compost pile or hit it with Roundup.

What do you think?

I'm not entirely sure if Roundup will kill the seeds but I do know the common recommendation is don't put down seed within 3-5 weeks of putting down a weed killer*. They do make weed killer that is safe for grass seeds but its more expensive and may not be as broad spectrum

*Crab grass pre-emergent treatments often have much longer release times so you might want to wait 5-7 weeks before seeding if you put that down

 

[Muse]

Yeah, the stuff I have seen online vis a vis seeds and Roundup concerned whether to seed, not whether Roundup will kill seeds, kind of a different matter, seems to me. Seeds can remain viable (will germinate if conditions are favorable) for many years. In this case I am hoping that the seeds are rendered un-viable! Else, I'm going to have a tough time keeping those areas of my yard free from grasses, which I have been doing for years but right now it's out of hand. I did cut back some grass a couple of days ago using a very sharp butcher knife and threw the tops (with most of the seeds, hopefully) in my recycle bin. The last place I want them is in my compost pile. Haven't used any Roundup yet this go-round, but I may, or maybe just hoe, not sure.

 

[Exterous]

Yeah sorry I misread your post. Given those recommendations I would think it would kill seeds to at least some extent. If its got pre-emergent abilities I think it would kill a larger amount of seeds

 

[Muse]

Yeah sorry I misread your post. Given those recommendations I would think it would kill seeds to at least some extent. If its got pre-emergent abilities I think it would kill a larger amount of seeds

Well, I just saw your post here. I had just finished a chat at their website. I couldn't find my particular Roundup product, maybe it's discontinued.

Mine is a quart plastic bottle of Roundup Concentrate and the label says:

glyphosate, isopropylamine salt 25.0%. Other ingredients 75.0%

They asked me if I knew what kind of grass it is and I said I didn't know. They came back and chatted that the product will be absorbed into leaves and stems and kill the grass but that the seeds will remain viable.

Of course, that may not be exactly right and it may indeed depend on the kind(s) of grass I have growing out there. I asked how long a shelf life it has, if any is specified and they came back and said 8 years. Again, I have to wonder just how accurate that would be. Seems it would depend some on the conditions, i.e. the temperatures where it is stored. Mine is kept pretty cool, never ever over 75F, mostly below 60F, 95% of the time under 65F.

 

[Muse]

I may just have to hand cut and discard what I can, then rake and when I see growth rake again. And again! And again!

 

[bbhaag]

Roundup kills the roots not the seeds. If the seeds are viable at the time of death then they will still be able to germinate.

 

[Muse]

Roundup kills the roots not the seeds. If the seeds are viable at the time of death then they will still be able to germinate.

Thanks, makes sense to me. I have tens of thousands of potential problems out there, to be sure. I may try some unusual methods like sweeping into a dustpan and dumping in the waste obvious collections of seeds.