Is Trifluralin ok or not? Strawberries and garlic

General Gardening
1

I have a liquid version of triflularin from Monterey in my garage.

I’m about to plant my garlic today. Even with straw mulch I get a lot more winter weeds than I really wish I did. It’s not on the Monterey label, but I have red elsewhere that it is OK to use on garlic. However, it doesn’t look like I could spray it on in the spring when the weeds really get going, it looks like it has to be done at planting.

And for strawberries, I’m getting conflicting info. My bed is established, but I finally got rid of all the weeds by hand and hoe, and I just can’t keep up with the damn weeds on the strawberries.

I turn my head and cough, and there’s 50,000 weeds in there again.

I get a lot more weeds over winter than seems logical.

2

Regardless of what the labels claim, trifluralin needs to be thoroughly incorporates into the top inch or two of soil. It can help control very small seeded weeds. It can prune roots on your garlic and strawberries but they will grow under the layer because trifluralin bonds tightly to soil and wont move deeper. Incorporation can be done with a hoe or rake.
If you don’t want to incorporate, try a metalachlor which kills tiny weeds growing through it on the surface. It also won’t have much impact on garlic or strawberries already rooted and growing.
1 1/2 pints of trifluralin is enough to do an entire acre.