Comments on: What would Jeff Gillman do? Roundup and my garden

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:27:27 +0000

Great review and a tactful way to examine using Roundup. I too garden organically, and take a natural health lifestyle very seriously. But I also use Roundup at times around our property.

We manage almost 10 acres, and garden on about 1. The nature of poison ivy and other invasive plants can be very difficult to manage, especially when there is one person doing most of the work!

And yes, there are many alternatives to avoid using any herbicide at all, which we do for the garden most of the year. The good old fashioned hoe works wonders too.

But for perimeters and difficult spot problems, using a little glyphosate infrequently can be very effective.

To many of those who are so critical of someone considering use of Roundup, I would say, #1) They have probably not tried to manage a large acreage or property and done so organically for the most part, and 2) There are far worse products being used on lawns and suburban landscapes every day.

My goal is to not use any synthetic chemical application at all, but I believe limited application of Roundup can be done safely, at least until I can afford to pay a few people to help pull weeds on several acres.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:26:52 +0000

I really enjoyed this article. I garden entirely organically except for my recent love of Roundup. The only thing that makes me feel better about the product is how it quickly it breaks down once it contacts the soil.

My husband I and purchased a property with a large colonial style garden. The house had been negleted for several years. At first I was attempting to remove all the weeds from the pathways and beds by hand. I finally gave up and bought the Roundup concentrate and a small pump sprayer. Using the utmost of caution during application the weeds are now under control and I haven’t harmed any benifical plants.

It’s encouraging to know others interested in organic gardening don’t see Roundup as totally evil. While I don’t enjoy using it, I don’t want to pull out my formal garden either since it’s one of things we loved about the house.

By: shannon

shannon — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:17:25 +0000

I have to admit that I love Roundup, although in every other respect I am an organic gardener through and through. I also have to admit that a lot of the things i use it for are things that I planted: crown vetch that got out of control, akebia that got out of control, English ivy that got out of control. Don’t plant invasive species! Some of them were there when I got there, mainly Lonicera japonica.

I have used the paint brush method recently and I don’t know yet if it’s working because I haven’t been back to my garden in a couple of months, but I’m glad to hear it works for other people.

By: Roald

Roald — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:58:18 +0000

I have a lawn infested with “wild garlic”. If I use Roundup on this I assume the grass will die and I will need to replant. Short of digging up the whole lawn and starting over are there any suggestions or other options I might try?
Thanks.

By: bill

bill — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:27:55 +0000

In my experience you could dispense with the roundup in this situation and achieve the same result. I just scalp the grass by mowing at the very lowest setting, then remove the grass by running a shovel blade an inch or so below the surface. St Augustine has very shallow roots. This method won’t work though if you have bermuda grass.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:22:57 +0000

Great info, thanks for initiating.

I recently used roundup in transforming two large areas of St. Augustine into native plant beds. I sprayed roundup on the St. A, left it for about two weeks, then tilled it under to put the organic material of the dead grass back into the soil. Compost, 4 layers of newspaper and 4 inches of mulch later and I have not seen hide nor hair of that St. Augustine.

By: Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune

Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:11:58 +0000

I have a small, quite urban yard, and although I garden organically in most other respects I do use glyphosate occasionally and sparingly for incorrigible aggressive plants. After a very expensive tuckpointing job, we have been using glyphosate to fight the Boston ivy that wants to swathe the apartment building. Applying it repeatedly with a brush to the cut stumps seems to restrain the ivy, though I can’t say we’ve exterminated it. But this is standard garden-center Round-Up; maybe the stronger concentrate would be more deadly. Not that the regular Round-Up is without perils. An attempt to apply it to creeping Charlie in the lawn — very meticulously, leaf by leaf, with a child’s paintbrush — killed a big patch of grass that had to be reseeded. No more glyphosate in the lawn!

By: Pam/Digging

Pam/Digging — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:13:49 +0000

I use Round-Up as sparingly as possible, but I do find it indispensible in my fight against two persistent weeds in my yard, as well as against Bermuda grass infestations, which I’ve never known to be completely killed by solarizing.

By: Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Carol, May Dreams Gardens — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:49:50 +0000

I’ve used Round up in the past but am currently using Perfectly Natural Weed n’ Grass Killer. Is it any safer? I’ve got to have something to kill the thistle.

By: kate

kate — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:49:35 +0000

So far I haven’t had to use Round-Up in my garden, but then I garden on a small property. My neighbour loves Round-up ever since she covered her entire back property with pea gravel. She sprays the entire yard with Round-up – I guess it is always at the ready. I worry about what else is being affected besides errant grass.