Your home’s landscape design, including flower beds, ornamental gardens and vegetable patches, are some of the proudest features of your home. These elements provide color, dimension and fresh produce to an otherwise sea of grass. But over time, your landscape design can become overgrown, crowded and infested with weeds. If this sounds like your yard, it is time for an update. Don’t break your back doing all of the labor by hand, let Ragan & Massey’s line of products do the heavy lifting for you.

Replant a Flower Bed

Flower beds look great in the beginning, but after a handful of seasons many homeowners struggle to tell the difference between a precious ornamental and weeds. Plants can also easily outgrow their designated areas, crowding your design and even obstructing your home. Before you start replanting a flower bed, remove the existing vegetation. Large shrubs should be dug out by hand, especially if you want to transplant them to another area of your yard, but smaller plants, like grass and weeds, can be eliminated with a herbicide. RM18 is a great choice for killing unwanted weeds and grass, along with any other ornamentals you don’t wish to keep. 

RM18 is a total weed control solution for unwanted brush, broadleaf plants and grass. The reason why it works so well for flower beds is because it kills the weeds while leaving the soil fertile; it is ready for replant in as little as three days. RM18 contains two herbicides that kill on contact, producing visible wilting fast. For best results, soak the soil (not leaves) with water before applying and again three days after spraying. Wait one to three days after your last application before planting flowers, trees and shrubs. 

Grow a Garden

Growing vegetables is a passion for many home gardeners. It doesn’t get any fresher than picking dinner right from your back door. Prepping for a garden is very similar to replanting a flower bed; kill the existing vegetation and plant your desired vegetables and/or fruits. Use Compare-N-Save Quick Acting Weed & Grass Killer to eliminate unwanted vegetation; it kills plants down to the root. Once Compare-N-Save Quick Acting Weed & Grass Killer enters the plant, it won’t wash off. Like RM18, it won’t harm the soil making it ideal for garden plot preparation.

Use it on your garden plot in early summer when the weather is sunny and warm. It works best when plants are small but actively growing. If your garden is infested with brush and vines, cut them down to at least four feet tall before spraying. As with flower bed planting, soak the soil (not leaves) with water before applying and again three days after spraying. You’ll be able to plant seeds, vegetables, fruits and herbs in three days.

Install a Patio

Patios and decks offer great outdoor entertaining space but installing one can be a challenge due to all of the prep work that needs to be done. Both RM18 and Compare-N-Save Quick Acting Weed & Grass Killer work great for patio preparation. 

To begin, skip the mowing for a week and then completely spray the area with six fluid ounces of product per gallon of water for every 300 square feet. Allowing the grass to grow creates more surface area for the product to work its way in. Wait and retreat the areas that remain green after seven days. We recommend waiting three days after your final application before raking or tiling.

Install a Play Area

Designating an area in your yard for playground equipment means you’ll never have to mow or trim weeds around swing sets, slides and playhouses again. RM43 is the perfect product to ensure future weeds and grass won’t force their way through mulch, rubber chips, block or asphalt. RM43 is a powerful herbicide that offers total vegetation control on bare ground. It not only kills weeds and grass but prevents them from growing. Keep in mind, you don’t want to apply this product to areas with desirable plants. 

Section off the area you wish to create for play. Spray a mixture of 7.4 ounces of RM43 with water to produce one to 10 gallons of spray. Using a backpack sprayer or sprinkling can, cover the desired area at a maximum application rate of 2.5 gallons per acre. Once it is applied, you can lay your surfacing materials like weed barrier and/or sand and then top with the landscape groundcover of your choosing. 

Spend less time working in the yard and more time enjoying it. Don’t start your next outdoor project with Ragan & Massy.