Question
Hi Gill - 1st off THANK YOU for all of your knowledge and expertise - I've been richly rewarded by your advice to others! THANKS SO MUCH!
Now I find myself needing urgent advice.  On 4/28 at approx. 3pm I MISUNDERSTOOD a bottle of LAWN weed killer as being safe for flower gardens.  I sprayed it on my niece's lawn AND flowers.  The flowers and shrubs (including a lilac) are now wilting & appear to be dying. We have diluted the soil w/water until soaked.  Please Gill, is there anything else we can do??  Or are we facing the prospect of replacing all?  She has perhaps 2 dozen different flowers and shrubs.  Any of your wisdom would be appreciated!  Thank you most sincerely, one dope in Wisconsin.

Answer
Hello Lisa

Oooohhhh dear - I think you have a big problem here!  That's the problem with weed killers, they don't just kill weeds.  

Has everything gone?  Well that depends really - did the weed killer specify that it was 'systemic'?  That means that the weed killer is taken up by the roots and kills from the inside (so to speak).  If it was a 'contact' weed killer, this means that it kills only the green upper growth of the plant.

Soooo - if your weed killer was the former, I,m  sorry, the flowers will probably have gone.  The shrubs, being bigger, and your having saturated the area with water, may come through - with a struggle - look out for new buds forming.  It may not happen this year, so you'll have to be patient.

If the weed killer was a contact killer, some of the flowers may come back, but I have to say that that only seems to work with weeds!! and the shrubs have a better chance of ultimate survival.

Any recovery will take a lot of time and I suspect that the weed killer was systemic - they nearly all are these days.  I'm so sorry about this, you must feel awful, but we gardeners are an optimistic lot and would consider this as not a disaster, but as a new planting opportunity!!  (We can also be hard-hearted at times!!)

OK - lesson learned - always ready the label and instructions at least three times before using ANYTHING!!

Thanks you so much for your kind comments - I'm always pleased to know that I have been of help.

Gill