Weeds at the edge

Fwd: Is this a legal use for roundup?

Sent this photo to the MOE in April 11/13 after seeing a flyer. Roundup is not permitted to be used except for poisonous plants like poison ivy. Don't see much poison ivy growing on hard surfaces. 

Here is also the response, received June 27th.

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Ministry  of the  Environment	Ministère  de  l'Environnement
Standards Development Branch	Direction de lélaboration des normes
40 St. Clair Ave. West 7th Floor Toronto ON  M4V 1M2	40, avenue St. Clair ouest 7e étage Toronto ON  M4V 1M2
www.ene.gov.on.ca	www.ene.gov.on.ca
Tel.:          416 327-5519 Fax:          416 327-2936	Tél.:          416 327-5519 Téléc.:       416 327-2936

 

SENT ON BEHALF OF STEVE KLOSE, DIRECTOR

June 27, 2013

 

 

Mr. Gerry Okimi  

E-mail: xxxx@gmail.com  

 

Dear Mr. Okimi:

 

Thank you for your e-mail of April 11, 2013 about the requirements for the sale and use of RoundUp products in Ontario.  I have been asked to respond to your enquiry on behalf of the Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment.

 

Ontario's cosmetic pesticides ban took effect April 22, 2009.  The ban prohibits Ontario families and children from the unnecessary risks of cosmetic pesticides.  More than 100 pesticide ingredients are banned for cosmetic uses such as on lawns, gardens, parks and school yards.  Only biopesticides and certain lower-risk pesticides are allowed for controlling weeds and pest in lawns and gardens.

 

Under the ban, RoundUp products are Controlled Sales products that require licensed vendors selling these products to provide a Class 7 Handout to purchasers informing them that certain uses of these products are not allowed under the ban.

RoundUp products cannot be used on driveways, patios, lawns or gardens to control weeds or other vegetation as these are cosmetic uses, but can be used to control plants poisonous to humans by touch (e.g., poison ivy, giant hogweed).  Furthermore, controlled sale products must be offered for sale (advertised) in accordance with Ontario Regulation 63/09 made under the Pesticides Act.

When the ministry becomes aware or receives a report of suspected non-compliance with respect to the sale or use of prohibited pesticides, the ministry assesses each situation on a case by case basis to determine if the activity is in compliance with the legislation and to determine an appropriate response.  The ministry has a variety of compliance and enforcement tools available to help ensure that individuals are adhering to the requirements under the ban.

In response to your question of whether the specific advertisement you provided is in compliance with the pesticides legislation, the ministry will be reviewing the advertisement with our legal department to determine compliance with the pesticides legislation.

 

To report suspected non-compliance with the requirements of the cosmetic pesticides ban, I would encourage you to contact your local ministry district office during regular business hours (look in the Blue Pages in your telephone directory or see a listing on the ministry's web site at www.ene.gov.on.ca). After business hours contact the ministry's Pollution Hotline at 1-866-MOE-TIPS (1-866-663-8477).

 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding RoundUp products.

 Sincerely,

   

Steve Klose

Director

 

Gerry T Okimi
Turf King Hamilton Halton Haldimand
95 Hempstead Dr Unit 14, Hamilton ON L8W 2Y6
905.318.6677
Website: www.turf-king.ca
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Core Aerating and then Overseeding- Before and After Photos

In our lawn care library, we talk about aeration and overseeding to repair damaged lawns.
In a blog post, we again give some ideas on what is involved with aerating and overseeding.

But a picture is always worth a thousand words.

Here is one lawn where we remembered to take an before photo.
The before photos were taken in late April.
The lawn was aerated and overseeded on May 22.
The lawn was also fertilized with our Turf King fertilizer on May 24th
The after photos were taken on June 19th- 4 weeks after the seeding. The customer here is pleased and said that he was very careful to water twice a day for the first 2 weeks as we recommended.

While the lawn is far from perfect, the grass is well established. The weeds did jump in to the bare spots, but this is to be expected. When the lawn is thin or bare, weed seed in the soil will now have the opportunity to grow and they will.

As the grass gets better established, we will work on the weeds.
Many of the weeds are not weeds that normally grow in a well cared for lawn. A thick lawn will squeeze out many of these weeds. Some of the weeds are also weeds that will not tolerate regular mowing. They will grow in the bare spots but as the lawn starts getting mowed regularly, they will disappear.

Verse of the Day Prayer of Lord's blessing Numbers 6:24 - 27 ESV 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

Black medic- a clover type weed- sometimes indicates a lawn that is undernourished

A dandelion root is strong

A dandelion root is strong. I was digging out a couple of dandelions from a vegetable garden bed. The dandelion on the right was showing a few leaves at the surface. That skimpy little root had had its top six inches of root cut off. Yet a little while later, it is able to send up several shoots up through six inches of soil. This means that when you are digging out dandelion roots- if you only get the top six inches of the plant, it may well have the ability to sprout from the remaining root. If you look at the plant on the left, you can see that even a slender root can send up shoots and regrow.

Silver dollar blooms Lunaria