A friend used Ground Clear to remove a big swath of ivy. She's bought daffodils but wonders if the Ground Clear will prevent the daffodils from growing. She's added manure and chopped leaves to the soil. Any thoughts on the survival and growth of the daffodils? Thanks.

The product label says it prevents weeds for up to 1 year. I hadn't heard of that product and looked it up- the Ortho site says not to plant any desirables for a year after application. 0.08% Imazapyr 5.0% Glyphosate were listed as the active ingredients, the latter has recently been labeled a carcinogen.

Thank you, Neal. I did read the ingredients and did read this warning:

WHERE NOT TO USE

Do not use anywhere that you plan on planting or seeding desirable plants for at least a year.

Would that mean it could or would not be the time to plant daffodils there?

With something like Round Up I would think it fine to go ahead and plant bulbs, but Ground Clear indicates it prevents growth for an extended time unlike RU. For it to do that I think it would have to seep into the soil. Daffs are tough, and planted deeply they would probably be okay. Might see some mutations among them though, like variegated leaves.

If the bulbs were already present but dormant at the time of spraying, fall rooting time would be the first exposure they've had. Enough of the toxin may have filtered out of the soil by the time they started rooting.

I did suggest to her that she plant them in pots with fresh soil, just to be sure.

Thanks again, Neal. She's bound to appreciate it.

"Do not use anywhere that you plan on planting or seeding desirable plants for at least a year."
I found that wording very strange, who would plan on planting or seeding "Undesirable plants".

I've certainly done that, but it surely wasn't what I was planning

Arlene, I would stress extra caution to her while working the soil and planting the bulbs, like gloves and limited contact with the sprayed area, etc. The daffs may be less affected by it than human physiology.

Funny, Larry, and quite true.

I will let her know, Neil.

"Three degradation products are created as
imazapyr breaks down. These are pyridine
hydroxy-dicarboxylic acid, pyridine dicarboxylic
acid (quinolinic acid), and nicotinic acid. These
degradates persist in water for approximately
the same amount of time as imazapyr (half-lives
of three to eight days).

In soils imazapyr is broken down by
microbes, and persists with a half-life of one to
five months. It doesn’t bind to sediments, so
leaching through soil into groundwater is likely"

http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/plants...

Thanks for the information, Tiffany. I'll send my friend a link to it.