- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Memorial Day Weekend has just passed, bringing with it the unofficial start of summer. The warm weather we've recently experienced following a rich rainy season is the perfect combination for the luscious growth we see in lawns and landscapes.
Business picks up this time of year for the many maintenance gardeners who are hired to mow lawns, clean up landscapes, or get rid of unwanted insects, diseases, or weeds. What many people may not realize is that maintenance gardeners who apply pesticides as part of their services must be certified by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). Even if pesticides are not used often, such as a single herbicide application, a Qualified Applicator Certificate in the Maintenance Gardener Category Q (QAC-Q) is required. This certification allows maintenance gardeners to legally apply general use pesticides as part of their services.
According to DPR, approximately two-thirds of pesticide exposure-related illnesses reported between 2005 and 2014 in California came from urban settings such as parks, gardens, schools and homes. Maintenance gardeners with a QAC-Q are qualified to follow California laws and regulations that help them to use, transport, store and dispose of pesticides safely in order to avoid human injury and contamination of the environment. They are also trained in pest identification and alternative methods to managing pests without the use of pesticides.
If you are a homeowner and use maintenance gardener services or are looking to hire, be sure to use one that is certified by DPR to ensure that they have the qualifications to follow the law and apply pesticides safely around your home. View the DPR Maintenance Gardener leaflet for homeowners and consumers (PDF) for more information on what you can do.
If you are a maintenance gardener and not yet certified, visit the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) website for resources to help you. The exam preparation page lists several materials such as a study guide available for purchase as well as free online modules and practice exam questions, available in both English and Spanish.
Those who already hold a QAC-Q must renew it by taking eight hours of DPR-approved continuing education (CE) courses every two years, with at least two hours in the laws and regulations category. Find approved online courses on the UCIPM training page.
For more information about the Qualified Applicator Certificate in the Maintenance Gardener Category, check out the DPR website and DPR's quick reference pocket guide (PDF).
- Author: James A. Bethke
I often teach that there is a place for pesticides, especially when there are no effective alternatives. For instance, if you leave the aphids alone on your rose plants, they will eventually disappear due to the abundance of all the associated natural enemies like ladybird beetles. Some damage will occur, but the end result will be enjoyable roses in the landscape or in a vase. However, if you are going to show the rose - that first early season rose is the most brilliant - and not protect it, it will not be showable. Similarly, it is a shame if you own a 100-year old beautiful shade tree in your yard and you let a pest destroy it when you could have prevented it.
There is a concern by many that the systemic neonicotinoid insecticides are harming wildlife and the environment, and many folks are not willing to use them or purchase plants that have been treated with them. That is amazingly unfortunate because of all the benefits of this insecticide class, and much of the expressed concerns are scientifically unfounded.
The best example I can give of a fit or a need for insecticide use is presented in the case of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). EAB is a beetle as an adult, but the immature form, called a grub, is responsible for girdling ash trees and killing them within three years depending on the size of the tree and the extent of the infestation. EAB has been blamed for killing tens of millions of trees in about 22 states, and it is said, that the destruction of the ash in our forests and urban landscapes could rival the loss of elms due to the Dutch elm disease. That's significant. The benefits of ash trees in the landscape is clear, so the loss of all or nearly all of the landscape ash would be devastating, in my opinion.
There are those, however, that would not protect the trees with neonicotinoid insecticides at any cost. Unfortunately, there are grand examples of communities that refuse to protect their trees with systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, and I recommend that you take a look at the before and after pictures attached and check out the links to more information below. You will see that there is a place for insecticide use in this instance. Some may say that we can replace the landscape trees with alternatives that won't be affected. That's true, but it won't save our forests, and it will leave infected trees in our urban landscapes that will act as a reservoir for the beetle.
- Author: Melissa G. Womack
Valentine's Day is one of the most demanding holidays in the cut-flower industry. Consumers struck by Cupid's arrow spend more than $1.9 billion on cut flowers alone. To prepare for the enormous demand for roses, growers produce an estimated 233 million roses, according to an About Flowers research study.
California Growers Making Changes
While many consumers are thinking about love – few are thinking about the impact the cut-flower industry is making on the environment. Since 1990, California has required the agricultural industry to report on all pesticide use, this includes detailed pesticide reporting for the cut flower industry.
Research shows pesticide use in California cut-flower production declined by almost 50 percent from 2001 to 2010. According to a recent UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) article, there are many reasons for the reduction including increased rules and regulations, early pest infestations practices, a new generation of organic growers and increased public awareness.
California cut-flower farmers have vastly improved their pesticide use and policies over the past decade. The state currently produces 60 percent of roses sold in the U.S. each year, but growers simply can't keep up with the Valentine's Day surge in demand during the cold winter months when production slows. These factors contribute to a vast majority of the roses sold in February being imported from Columbia and Ecuador.
Impact of Imported
In a typical year, between 85 percent and 95 percent of the most common fresh cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from Colombia or Ecuador, according to an article in One Green Planet. With fewer restrictions on pesticides in South America, the environmental impact of growing roses in these countries can be devastating.
“To cultivate that perfect rose, growers often resort to chemical weed and insect killers,” Alejandro Boada of Universidad Externado de Colombia states in an article in Organic Bouquet. “Pesticides have been found 300 to 400 meters deep in the soils, which have been unable to filter these poisons. Meanwhile, demand for water has also been found to strain local aquifers, on which other farms depend.”
Not only does aggressive pesticide use in these countries have a destructive environmental impact, their fragile imported roses often have to fly thousands of miles to wholesale warehouses and transported in energy-guzzling refrigerated trucks before reaching the flower shop cooler.
Alternatives for Your Valentine
Don't worry, there are plenty of romantic alternatives with a smaller carbon footprint for your Valentine this year!
- Give a native plant. Native plants thrive in your local environment and provide food for pollinators like bees and butterflies.
- Find a local flower grower in your town using The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers online U.S. database. Not only are you supporting a small often-times family-based farm, you are investing money back into your local economy.
- Connect with fresh, beautiful, organically raised flowers using an online database from Local Harvest.
- For a food-lover, potted herbs make a great gift.
- Gardeners love collections of seed packets for a bountiful summer harvest garden.
Learn about growing roses for your Valentine in your own garden by joining the UC Master Garden Program in your area.