The Party Lives on for Fiesta Weed Control

Calling his product the “holy grail” of natural selective weed control, the chief technical officer of Neudorff is positively ebullient about the reception of “Fiesta” in Canada.

“The launch of Fiesta in Canada has been a great success,” says Cam Wilson, Neudorff’s chief technical officer in North America. Neudorff North America manufactures Fiesta, which is sold as Ortho “EcoSense” weed killer in the United States under an exclusive licensing agreement.

“Demand for the newest approved weed killer is much higher than forecasted, causing slight delays in shipments,” according to the leading Canadian horticultural trade journal.

Pam Charbonneau, a leading Canadian turf specialist, has confirmed what many SafeLawns followers have already observed: the product works well on many so-called weeds, especially dandelions.

“The results are still very promising considering there are very few alternatives that provide this level of weed control,” wrote Charbonneau. Her entire report can be found in the May issue of Horticulture Review.
http://issuu.com/landscape_ontario/docs/may_hr_2010_for_web/25?showEmbed=true

For more information, you can reach her by phone or email at (519-824-4120 x 52597) or by email at pamela.charbonneau@ontario.ca.

MEANWHILE IN THE U.S.

The Scotts Miracle Gro company is still not shouting to the rafters about the new weed killer, which is manufactured from a naturally occurring iron. A check of the company’s web site this morning, June 16, shows that the product is still not available in New York and California. Given that these are the two largest markets in the nation, that would explain part of the reluctance in advertising.

The company reportedly has its own proprietary weed-killing product due on the market within 24 months, if not sooner, and that is seen by many as the real reason Scotts is dragging its feet on Neudorff’s new discovery. The Scotts web site also has some less-than-favorable reviews of Ortho EcoSense: http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod10410002&itemId=cat10110004, with an average of three stars out of a possible five.

That flies in the face of most of the reviews we are receiving. Just yesterday a professional landscape contractor from Washington state told us he was happy with the results, as did another from Texas.

“The price of the product needs to come down before we can use this stuff everywhere,” he said. “But for really troubled areas and spot applications, it’s a great tool.”

At least a few of our SafeLawns followers are taking exception to us embracing a weed killer in the first place.

“Shouldn’t the focus of your campaign be on teaching people to accept ‘weeds’ as necessary plants in the ecosystem?” wrote Pat Cummings of Fresno, Ca. “By promoting a weed killer, even a natural one, you’re just perpetuating a problem of perception.”

And I agree with Pat, to a point. The fact is that we can’t entirely change people’s perceptions overnight. If we can get people to treat their lawns with organic fertilizers and use a limited amount of a natural weed killer, that’s a big step forward from where we are today.