Q: My garden was being overtaken with weeds, so I used a vegetation killer on it that is supposed to last for one year. I want to plant this spring. Can I used some kind of neutralizer and soil conditioner so I can start my garden this year?

The name of the product I used is Ortho GroundClear. The ingredients are glyphosate, and imazapyr.

A: The ingredient imazapyr is the chemical in GroundClear that gives long-term plant-killing power. It has a half-life of 90 days in the soil. It can not be “neutralized”.

The label clearly says “Kills weeds and prevents new growth for up to 1 year.”

The good news for your landscape is that it does not affect trees as much as it does small plants like vegetables. This chemical has little toxicity to mammals.

You *might* get a faster breakdown by tilling the soil thoroughly and mixing in soil conditioner. Try tilling now (April) and planting vegetables…but do not be surprised if the plant are stunted and yellowing by June.

Do let me know what happens.

Label courtesy of Scotts-MiracleGro

Label courtesy of Scotts-MiracleGro