Greenscape Gardens Green Blog

New Herbicide Targets Wild Violets

Wild violets can quicly take over lawns in the St. Louis area. Give this weed an inch and it'll take a yard. A relatively new herbicide can be used on turf to control wild violets and many other hard-to-control broadleaf weeds. It’s called carfentrazone. This material is rain-fast in three hours, and you can reseed the treated area two weeks after application. For violet control, it needs to be used in early to mid-April, when the violets are just starting to grow.

Sold as SpeedZone, it has been used in the professional lawn-care industry with exceptional results. It’s now available at Greenscape Gardens. We used the product at the garden center last year and had great control on some hard to control wild violets. “While low levels of chemical residue may occur in surface and groundwater, the risk to non-target plants or animals is low,” the EPA fact sheet on the substance states. “Carfentrazone is considered to be practically non-toxic to birds. The chemical is moderately toxic to aquatic animals.

The best time to apply SpeedZone is when the wild violets first reappear in early spring. One application normally will eradicate these unwanted weeds. It is heat sensitive. We highly recommend its usuage in early spring before temperatures reach into the 80's. Finally a herbicide that eliminates violets.