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I came home today to a sign in my yard that pesticides were sprayed! Apparently, my boyfriend hired TruGreen, and I didn't know! I have a 300 sq ft raised bed garden about 18" high in the back yard, and there is a sign in the back yard too! I haven't planted anything yet, but I will be transplanting in about a month and planting from seed. I have always had an organic garden - I only use untreated seeds and only start my plants indoors and transplant and then direct seed other vegetables, like corn and green beans in the garden. I have never used chemicals!

I understand they are not spraying my garden directly, but do you think it will effect my garden once I do plant? Either by killing the plants or making the veggies that do grow, if they do, bad for me? They are coming back and will do another 5 applications throughout the summer!!!

I am so upset about this! My bf paid a lot of money and will not cancel. And the lawn really has never been bad before. I don't know why he did this!

Should I be worried?? Does anyone have any experience with this?

PS-I don't know if it's effect or affect?...I never understood that one!

Also, I do have a list of what was used on the lawn if that helps...but I'm thinking it doesn't matter.

If you are talking "organic" as in what kind of chemicals and possible human toxins -- well, I don't know what to tell you. If you know what chemicals they used, you'll want to research the residual period and the MSDS on each at the very least. You'll also come across extreme websites so try not to get too caught up and stay clinical until you can form an informed opinion. You may then have more persuasive arguments with which to discuss with your boyfriend too.

Let's just ignore that aspect and start with physical damage to the garden plants themselves:

What kind of herbicides are they using? Broadleaf herbicides typically used on lawn will affect vegetables (except corn probably). Is it pelleted? Spray?

There will be danger of wind drift from sprayed herbicides "spot" sprayed often along edges in a long swath.

The roots of the garden plants will definitely commingle in the affected (or "contaminated" if you want to use the stronger word) soil only 18 inches below, not to mention wicking and leaching through the soil if the raised bed is bottomless with no barrier. I think contaminated urban area gardens are made with higher raised beds with barriers or actually raised above ground boxes with bottoms.

I think at the very least, you would want to fence off a buffer area around the raised bed where they are not to treat?

I don't really know what kind of pesticides they use, but most likely they would be broad spectrum and seriously affect the biodiversity of insect populations, beneficial insect availability, and good micro and macro organisms in the soil foodweb.

I actually have a similar issue because my next door neighbor has started using a lawn service. I already don't plant any edibles along the fence line with my opposite neighbor. Last year, I put up a plastic sheeting on my picket fence in an attempt to block drift. But I'm not convinced that that will do any good. Thinking of solid material of some kind, and not planting edibles along a buffer zone on this side too. Luckily, our property is slightly upslope of theirs so runoff is not as much of a concern.

No bottom to the raised bed....I just did a ton of research about TruGreen and it's all bad! From people's veggies all dying within a month (except corn as you said for some reason) to it making pets sick, humans sick and even some animals dying! I just got into a huge argument about this with the bf and he's not getting rid of them, he wants a green lawn. And it's his house, so nothing I can do. I'm sick to my stomach now. Maybe I should just give all my plants away. Plus I don't want to eat veggies that have been "contaminated." I am so upset! I was so looking forward to planting my garden soon! I even bought an organic, biodegradable weed blocker that feeds the plants at the same time! It's like a roll of paper you lay down in strips in the garden. It is going to take sooooo long to cut each hole for each plant/seed, etc. I guess I shouldn't even bother wasting my time now.

They left a paper with what they sprayed the lawn with and it sounds bad:

Barricade 4L (prodiamine)

17-0-5 (urea nitrogen, potash)

Escalade 2 (2,4d, fluroxypyr, dicamba)

SLC, give them a call to see if they have an organic spray program. I think most of the big companies like them do offer that alternative. It sure can't hurt to call them. Good luck and hope nothing is harmed.

SLC wrote:I came home today to a sign in my yard that pesticides were sprayed! Apparently, my boyfriend hired TruGreen, and I didn't know! I have a 300 sq ft raised bed garden about 18" high in the back yard, and there is a sign in the back yard too!

I am so upset about this! My bf paid a lot of money and will not cancel. And the lawn really has never been bad before. I don't know why he did this!

Yes, it's time to get a new boyfriend. Only an idiot hires a lawn service in a yard that will have an active garden. It is unconscionable that he did not even call you and ask you or tell you what he was going to do before he did it. It suggests to me that he does not respect you or your gardening interests.

SLC wrote:I just did a ton of research about TruGreen and it's all bad! From people's veggies all dying within a month (except corn as you said for some reason)

Corn is a grass, so it's not affected, but tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, etc. will all be wiped out.

SLC wrote:to it making pets sick, humans sick and even some animals dying! I just got into a huge argument about this with the bf and he's not getting rid of them, he wants a green lawn. And it's his house, so nothing I can do. I'm sick to my stomach now. Maybe I should just give all my plants away. Plus I don't want to eat veggies that have been "contaminated." I am so upset! I was so looking forward to planting my garden soon! I even bought an organic, biodegradable weed blocker that feeds the plants at the same time! It's like a roll of paper you lay down in strips in the garden. It is going to take sooooo long to cut each hole for each plant/seed, etc. I guess I shouldn't even bother wasting my time now.

They left a paper with what they sprayed the lawn with and it sounds bad:

Barricade 4L (prodiamine)

17-0-5 (urea nitrogen, potash)

Escalade 2 (2,4d, fluroxypyr, dicamba)

2,4d is a broad spectrum herbicide that kills anything that's not grass. That includes beans, tomatoes, etc.

Your boyfriend has basically ended your gardening plans. Seriously, it's time to move out and get someone who puts you first rather than his laziness. There's no reason he couldn't have bought a bag of weed-and-feed and carefully applied it, shaking it out of a cup by hand for the areas near your garden. Unfortunately you are now out all the money you have spent to prep and amend your garden. If I were you, I'd ask him to pay you for some of the money you've put into the garden which you now cannot use. What a jerk!!

The Barricade is basically kaolin clay and a dispersal agent. It creates a physical barrier against the emergence of weed seeds and isn't such bad stuff. Organic gardeners do use kaolin clay.

2,4D is a systemic herbicide. It was developed during WWII as a chemical warfare agent and only accidentally discovered that it had weed killing properties, so that might tell you something. Of all the herbicides out there, it isn't the worst one, but it has been linked to development of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in ag workers, as well as serious eye and skin irritation. It can be toxic to fish and aquatic organisms if it leaches in to rivers. Studies show that 2,4-D exhibits hormone-disrupting activity, including estrogenic, androgenic, and anti-thyroid effects.

Dicamba is moderately toxic by ingestion and slightly toxic by inhalation or dermal exposure. Dicamba is very irritating and corrosive and can cause severe and permanent damage to the eyes. It is readily taken up by the roots and foliage of plants and translocated throughout all plant tissues. After dicamba is absorbed by roots or leaves, metabolism is negligible (meaning it stays there and doesn't break down) (https://www.npic.orst.edu/factsheets/dicamba_tech.pdf)

the fluroxypyr is a fluoride compound and they do put fluorides in our drinking water. This one is Highly Toxic to Crustaceans and Zooplankton and Slightly to Highly Toxic to Fish (https://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content ... l.page.htm) and is slightly toxic to honey bees.

And of course, no one has the least idea of the interactive effects of combining all these poisons.

This is certainly not benign stuff. All of these compounds are more likely to affect small and young animals. I would not want my dog playing on that lawn and I would definitely not want a young child to play on it.

I wouldn't use as strong language as the previous poster, but it does make me concerned that the bf doesn't feel the need to consult you on stuff like this or respect your wishes.

Incidentally re effect and affect. Effect is a noun, "the effect of x on y" Affect is a verb.

I am in the same boat. I have a serious dollar weed issue and was referred to trugreen.. They came and treated once but I am canceling due to the garden. Will that one time treatment kill my plants as well? When and how long will it recoop? The actual garden area was not sprayed but the grass around the border was.

brandon558 wrote:I am in the same boat. I have a serious dollar weed issue and was referred to trugreen.. They came and treated once but I am canceling due to the garden. Will that one time treatment kill my plants as well? When and how long will it recoop? The actual garden area was not sprayed but the grass around the border was.

Hopefully with just one treatment it won't have a huge effect, especially after a month or two has passed. I would keep an eye out for 2,4D herbicide damage on any plants you already have or any seeds you start in the ground.



I know that Dollarweed is a tough problem and there are no consistently reliable organic treatments for it, but careful application of a weed-and-feed product on a calm day should take care of it without affecting the garden.

I can 100% promise you that those materials will not effect your garden in any way. I use those products on a daily basis and if applied correctly, which I'm sure it was because the applicator must be trained and licensed, there won't be any problems at all. Garden away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very trusting of you. Surely no one "trained and licensed" ever makes mistakes.

But my main concern about these chemicals is not about the people. Agricultural workers who are around these things in large quantities all the time and breathe it in are at serious risk. The rest of us not so much, as long as you follow the long list of precautions on the label and you don't have allergies or environmental sensitivities. The smaller the creature, the more likely to be harmed. I wouldn't want my baby or my dog crawling around on lawns treated like that.

But my main reason for not using these environmental poisons is the environment, the health of the birds and the fish and the honeybees and other beneficial insects. I try not to be alarmist and don't suggest they are harmful to people if there is no evidence for that. But they are clearly, with plenty of evidence and documentation, harmful to the environment. Everyone has to make their own choices about how much environmental damage they are willing to do in order to have things like a lush green grass monoculture. I just try to make sure people are making informed choices.

Well, it's been approximately 10 weeks since I planted the garden. I didn't get to plant it until about the first week in June, but that's a whole other story.

Some were transplated and some started from seed. It seems to be doing okay! Somehow, it does not look like TruGreen killed it. They've come at least twice since (that I know about anyway) since the garden has been in the ground. You can't see the whole garden in this picture, but you get the gist!

Here is the garden today: I do not know why the corn in the front left is like 9 feet tall - it's the Early & Often Hybrid, which is only supposed to be 6 ft.

It's probably the grass fertilizer.