BALAN

Attention!
This article will only be of interest to very few people.

Most of you love weeds and don’t mind the wonderful textural element they add to your turf. Really, what’s more annoying than looking out over your lawn and seeing nothing but smooth, full, uniform grass with no weeds at all? And weeds don’t care if you fertilize them or not — many will even flower beautifully if you never cut them.

But for the 5% of you who don’t like weeds, here’s the best advice to keep them out:

Get on a Regular Pre-Emergent Program

Yes, it sounds like your doctor telling you to do something regularly with a strange name and promising results later. Trust this one. Stick with the program and it works.

Science Lesson of the Day

What is Balan?

Balan is a granular pre-emergent herbicide that you apply just like fertilizer.

Pre (Latin for before)
Post (Latin for after… or a big piece of wood used in fences)

Pre-emergent herbicides stop weeds before they germinate and grow.
Post-emergent herbicides are sprayed after weeds are already visible.

When you spread granular Balan and water it in:

The granules dissolve
They form a barrier at the soil surface
Weed seeds germinate, hit the barrier, and die before you ever see them

It’s basically herbicidal magic.

Will This Mean I’ll Never See a Weed Again?

Short answer: No.

Longer (but important) answer:
Apply Balan:

Mid-February
Mid-September

That’s it — twice a year.

The spring application prevents summer weeds
The fall application controls crabgrass and other weeds that germinate in late winter and early spring

Results may not be dramatic the first year. The real payoff shows up in year two and beyond.

Summary

Weeds — BAD
Balan — GOOD