BASF | Weeds—Persistence and Tenacity

I’ve had the good fortune to travel and see some of the world. Along the way I’ve photographed the sites and scenery, pretty much like any tourist. A morbid curiosity of mine is that I’ve always taken a keen interest in finding plants – actually weeds – growing in the most curious places. In Athens, Greece, there are weeds growing 30 feet above the ground out of the columns that surround the famous Acropolis. In the capital city of Bern, Switzerland, I observed Poa annua – annual bluegrass - growing in the cracks of centuries-old cobblestone streets. Emerging from the solid rock walls of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, I spotted trees growing in locations where I’m pretty sure God hadn’t intended a perfectly normal tree to grow. So where am I going with this? The point is weeds are persistent: anytime, anywhere, any place you will find weeds growing, if not thriving. Weeds are tenacious: they can grow in the most unlikely, inhospitable places. And to top it off, weeds are timeless: whether we like it or not, they will grow and thrive well into the future.

So why are we surprised when weeds appear in our nurseries and landscapes? If they can grow in the crack of a two thousand year-old column, surely they can grow anywhere, right? In fact, a nursery is the most likely place to find weeds. The nursery environment is designed to optimize plant growth and let’s face it, a weed is nothing more than a plant out of place. A grower’s challenge is trying to grow a desirable plant (or plants) free from the disturbing influence of a free-loading, nutrition-sucking, pest-infesting weeds. And that’s where BASF comes to the rescue: ‘We don’t make the plants, we make them better,’ or as I like to say ‘We don’t make the weeds, we make ‘em deader.’ Or something like that.

For the last four years BASF has been developing two new herbicides for the nursery and landscape markets. We recently received EPA approval for a new pre-emergent herbicide called Tower™. Tower is a broad spectrum pre-emergent herbicide for use in landscapes and field-grown nurseries. Tower contains a new active ingredient for the ornamentals market: dimethenamid-p. We are close to securing registration for a second pre-emergent herbicide for container-grown ornamentals, FreeHand™ 1.75G Herbicide. As the name implies, FreeHand is a granular formulation that allows over-the-top applications to nursery and landscape plants. It combines two active ingredients: dimethenamid-p + pendimethalin, a proven performer on ornamental plants for over 30 years. The resulting product has a very broad spectrum of weed control and excellent crop safety. The addition of Tower and Freehand to our product portfolio enhances our current stable of herbicides: Pendulum® AquaCap™, Pendulum® 2G, Basagran® T/O and Segment™ herbicides. Pre- and post-emergent herbicides designed for every type of nursery and landscape weed – no matter where you might find them.

So there you have it: Tower and FreeHand herbicides, two new products from BASF to control all your most tenacious, persistent, long-lasting weed problems. Too bad the Greeks didn’t have FreeHand available during the construction of the Acropolis.

Until the next time, Keep it Growing.

Steve