I’ll start out by saying I’m not a licensed pesticide applicator, nor do I want to be one. I respect those of you who carry this license and use pesticides & herbicides properly.

But (and there’s always a “but”)…

Today I met with a new client who is in a new home. In part of her new garden, a nest of yellow jackets had taken up residence. The yellow jackets were overwhelming and becoming a big problem for her neighbor and for her. So, she had called a spraying service for assistance.

They assisted by spraying TEMP SC ULTRA several times on the nest…to no avail. She then called an exterminator who sprayed DRAGNET/SFR once, and it seems the yellow jackets are now gone. So, what’s the problem, right? The right products were applied to the problem & eventually the problem went away. Well, there are a couple of issues going on:

1.  Why did the spray company spray so many times and not get rid of the yellow jackets? If this product didn’t work after a couple of sprays, why not try another technique?
2. Why are all of the plants in the area sprayed dieing or under serious stress? Do these products have secondary problems for plants? Did the spray company cross contaminate their spray equipment between herbicides and pesticides? Or, maybe the annoyed neighbor took an arsenal of non-pesticides to the problem causing an herbicide-like effect. Or maybe its something else altogether that soil testing will solve.
3. Why was the spray company cagey with the client when she asked them what they were spraying? Why did they push back on providing her with the actual names of the products and the spray dates? In response to the question, “What did you spray & when did you spray it?” Why did they avoid the actual question and give the following answer?
   • “Don’t worry. it was a while ago. it won’t make you sick.”

And the next question is, why did the spraying company spray her garden with STIMPLEX? Yes, it is regulated for ornamental plants, but its a growth regulator. Yes, it can assist with plant vigor, but what’s the point? Her plants are mature shrubs & trees. She’s not cropping anything. Yes, some were a bit stressed out, but why spray them? And why spray them with a growth regulator as we’re going into fall? Again, I’m not a pesticide applicator, but I do know that encouraging new growth going into fall isn’t the best idea. I also know that evaluating the real problems with plants and soil can mean taking samples and testing them before randomly spraying something.

A lot of these plants could have used some pruning more than anything. And by pruning, I mean removing dead & crossing branches & opening up for light and air. Heck if you do that and improve the soil, plants can feed themselves and regulate their own growth. They create the hormones that are in that darn spray themselves!

And on top of all my questions, it looked to me like many of the broadleaf plants in this garden sustained some kind of spray damage somewhere along the line. I could get into asking all the same questions I posed earlier in the post when discussing the spraying for the yellow jackets, but that won’t give me the answer.

So what’s my real point? I think its actually a couple of observations.

• First, many homeowners have no idea if their garden needs spraying or doesn’t. Many have no clue what their garden needs at all. They trust the professionals to tell them what the garden needs.
• I think my goal here is to suggest that everyone ask deeper questions & every professional should take the time to answer questions in an educational manner.
  • Insist  that blanket statements be explained. Being told, “Don’t worry. Its safe.”  Isn’t good enough. Make the person tell you what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, what it is. If you don’t understand them or they’re intimidating, don’t accept that. You and your garden deserves better! If the issue in question is a pesticide, fertilizer or other application, know what’s happening. As with bad pruning, bad chemical applications can do more damage than good — possibly destroying an otherwise perfectly beautiful and healthy garden.

As always, I welcome your insights and comments on these issues. If you know (or suspect) why a spraying company would spray a mature garden with a growth regulator in order to “help it”, I’d love to hear from you!