Does it bother you when neighbors use pesticides on their lawn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids and a dog.. nobody is on the lawn after it has been sprayed.

This. Once dry, it is fine. FWIW, until you pay their mortgage you have no say OP. And to the one who converted their neighbor. Seriously? Told them to use an electric mower? LMAO My DH would roll eyes and carry on.........with his gas powered lawn mower. Get a grip

That stuff stinks for weeks. There is no way the toxicity goes away in hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, totally ignorant here and admitting this up front. I actually live in a different area of the country (Texas), and we're first-time homeowners in terms of a house with a yard (in condos prior).

Our yard is a hot mess - tons of weeds. More than one could ever pull, and extremely ugly. The last owners didn't keep up with it. All of our neighbors have good yards, many seem to use a service. We're planning on having a service come in and spray 8x over the course of the season to try to eradicate the weeds and let the grass grow back.

Other than chemicals = bad, what's the big deal? Does it contaminate the water? They're pretty protective on water here and we haven't received anything saying not to use chemicals on your lawn.

So, follow up, since we don't get a hard freeze down here, you really do have to spray your house for bugs to prevent termites, ants, spiders, scorpions. Our house has the port where you can pump the chemicals through tubes in the walls too, but I've been told by many people in the area you MUST spray externally to prevent problems.

If you live in a bug-prone area, particularly destructive bugs like termites, how are you supposed to deal with them without pesticide?

All genuine questions - I'm open to doing things differently. I honestly had no idea this was an issue for people.

The big deal is that pesticides have health risks to humans. They are implicated in cancers (leukemia, lymphomas specifically), and do you really want to risk your families health (and pet health) for a nice looking lawn? I don't understand that. Our lawn looks like crap, with tons of weeds and clover (more weeds than actual grass) and we keep it mowed short so from a distance you can't tell. I would never want to risk my families health for a perfect looking lawn. Makes no sense to me.

Yes it also contaminates the water which also contaminates the Chesapeake bay and eventually the ocean. If you don't like farmers spraying pesticide don't spray it yourself. Our dog died from this stuff so the damage to animals is also real.

[Anonymous]

If my neighbor asked me to use an electric lawnmower, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing for a week.


I am also fully engaged in the war on clover, and mosquitoes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids and a dog.. nobody is on the lawn after it has been sprayed.

This. Once dry, it is fine. FWIW, until you pay their mortgage you have no say OP. And to the one who converted their neighbor. Seriously? Told them to use an electric mower? LMAO My DH would roll eyes and carry on.........with his gas powered lawn mower. Get a grip

People who live in neighborhoods with HOAs have a lot of say over what other people do with their property. I don't know why this would be different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my neighbor asked me to use an electric lawnmower, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing for a week.

I am also fully engaged in the war on clover, and mosquitoes

Why? What's so funny about electric lawnmowers?

[Anonymous]

We live in a neighborhood with strict HOA. If we had nasty weeds all over our yard, we would be fined. Our lawn company uses relatively safe chemicals in the lowest amounts possible. We back up to the water and live on a nature preserve. Everyone in our neighborhood is concerned about finding the balance between keeping weeds and pests away and maintaining a healthy environment. There are alternatives to the unsafe chemicals. You just have to be willing to pay more for the service.

[Anonymous]

Are electric mowers that much better?

They're basically powered by coal...

Yes, because electric motors are much more efficient than combustion mowers -- you're using less energy to do the work. Also, coal is not the only source of electric energy. We're on 100% wind power, and getting solar panels this summer.

And no, I haven't asked anyone to use an electric lawn mower. I just go out there and mow my lawn. Many neighbors have asked about it, and at least two have taken my suggestion, after THEY asked, and have gotten an electric mower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in a neighborhood with strict HOA. If we had nasty weeds all over our yard, we would be fined. Our lawn company uses relatively safe chemicals in the lowest amounts possible. We back up to the water and live on a nature preserve. Everyone in our neighborhood is concerned about finding the balance between keeping weeds and pests away and maintaining a healthy environment. There are alternatives to the unsafe chemicals. You just have to be willing to pay more for the service.

That's exactly the part I don't understand. A lawn with no weeds vs. a healthy environment -- that's not something to balance. The healthy environment should win, every every every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids and a dog.. nobody is on the lawn after it has been sprayed.

This. Once dry, it is fine. FWIW, until you pay their mortgage you have no say OP. And to the one who converted their neighbor. Seriously? Told them to use an electric mower? LMAO My DH would roll eyes and carry on.........with his gas powered lawn mower. Get a grip

+1000
My DH would definitely roll his eyes. Then, continue with the gas powered lawn mower followed with the gas powered weed eater, then trim the hedges with the gas powered trimmer and top it off with using the gas powered chain saw to remove the dead branches.
You people need to find real problems to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids and a dog.. nobody is on the lawn after it has been sprayed.

This. Once dry, it is fine. FWIW, until you pay their mortgage you have no say OP. And to the one who converted their neighbor. Seriously? Told them to use an electric mower? LMAO My DH would roll eyes and carry on.........with his gas powered lawn mower. Get a grip

+1000
My DH would definitely roll his eyes. Then, continue with the gas powered lawn mower followed with the gas powered weed eater, then trim the hedges with the gas powered trimmer and top it off with using the gas powered chain saw to remove the dead branches.
You people need to find real problems to worry about.

Is a gas-powered lawn mower more manly than an electric lawn mower? I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It bothers me. But there's not much you can do.

People are sheep.

Yes there is. Research the proper federal authorities to substantially fine them, or worse. It is a federal offense. I do not wish to post the most vigilant agencies here, because the people who poison our surroundings are often hostile. You will want the agencies to handle them.

It is an easy process, the soil can be tested even after rain or snow, no problem. They are more than willing to help, and there are tons of agencies in this area that pursue charges. It is becoming more and more popular to do so.

If you wish, you can also hire a property attorney. The issue can get quite a bit more sophisticated, involved and pricey than the offender anticipated, certainly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids and a dog.. nobody is on the lawn after it has been sprayed.

This. Once dry, it is fine. FWIW, until you pay their mortgage you have no say OP. And to the one who converted their neighbor. Seriously? Told them to use an electric mower? LMAO My DH would roll eyes and carry on.........with his gas powered lawn mower. Get a grip

That stuff stinks for weeks. There is no way the toxicity goes away in hours.

+1

It does not. Do you research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It bothers me. But there's not much you can do.

People are sheep.

Yes there is. Research the proper federal authorities to substantially fine them, or worse. It is a federal offense. I do not wish to post the most vigilant agencies here, because the people who poison our surroundings are often hostile. You will want the agencies to handle them.

It is an easy process, the soil can be tested even after rain or snow, no problem. They are more than willing to help, and there are tons of agencies in this area that pursue charges. It is becoming more and more popular to do so.

If you wish, you can also hire a property attorney. The issue can get quite a bit more sophisticated, involved and pricey than the offender anticipated, certainly!

So tell us how companies like TruGreen or other lawn services stay in business........How is treating your lawn a FEDERAL OFFENSE? OMG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It bothers me. But there's not much you can do.

People are sheep.

Yes there is. Research the proper federal authorities to substantially fine them, or worse. It is a federal offense. I do not wish to post the most vigilant agencies here, because the people who poison our surroundings are often hostile. You will want the agencies to handle them.

It is an easy process, the soil can be tested even after rain or snow, no problem. They are more than willing to help, and there are tons of agencies in this area that pursue charges. It is becoming more and more popular to do so.

If you wish, you can also hire a property attorney. The issue can get quite a bit more sophisticated, involved and pricey than the offender anticipated, certainly!

So tell us how companies like TruGreen or other lawn services stay in business.....How is treating your lawn a FEDERAL OFFENSE? OMG

If the treatment is one drop off of your property, hence the testing procedure capability, it is a federal offense, Einstein.

Any (any) treatment has to be on your own property. If a neighbor tells you to treat a piece of property that is not yours, (for example, an abutting piece of property, hell strip, what have you) don't do it. They are setting you up. There are laws that the federal government has to follow, if you have proof.

As PP mentioned, the sheep mentality is alive and well. Look around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, totally ignorant here and admitting this up front. I actually live in a different area of the country (Texas), and we're first-time homeowners in terms of a house with a yard (in condos prior).

Our yard is a hot mess - tons of weeds. More than one could ever pull, and extremely ugly. The last owners didn't keep up with it. All of our neighbors have good yards, many seem to use a service. We're planning on having a service come in and spray 8x over the course of the season to try to eradicate the weeds and let the grass grow back.

Other than chemicals = bad, what's the big deal? Does it contaminate the water? They're pretty protective on water here and we haven't received anything saying not to use chemicals on your lawn.

So, follow up, since we don't get a hard freeze down here, you really do have to spray your house for bugs to prevent termites, ants, spiders, scorpions. Our house has the port where you can pump the chemicals through tubes in the walls too, but I've been told by many people in the area you MUST spray externally to prevent problems.

If you live in a bug-prone area, particularly destructive bugs like termites, how are you supposed to deal with them without pesticide?

All genuine questions - I'm open to doing things differently. I honestly had no idea this was an issue for people.

Yes, herbicides and pesticides are bad for people. They eventually seep into the water system and into us. While you won't keel over from a small amount of herbicide, over the course of a lifetime, it contributes to cancer.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/roundup-health-study-idUSL2N0DC22F20130425

Also, the use of these chemicals is contributing to the death of beneficial insects, such as honey bees and other pollinators. No pollinators, no fruits. Everything from tomatoes to apples to pumpkins and almonds depends on pollinators.

A condo where I used to live sprayed the lawn. I went out one day into my little patch of grass and dug in to look for worms for fishing. And I looked and looked. All dead. That can't be a good thing, for the earth or for us

The best thing you can do is plant white dutch clover in your lawn and let the bees have at it!