Glyphosate and herbicides

I was recently contacted by Roberto at Drugwatch – a free web resource providing important health information. He asked me to share information with my readers about glyphosate, which is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world by commercial gardeners. It is found to be highly toxic and can cause many short-term and long-term health effects. It can also be harmful to important pollinators such as honey bees.

He sent me links to two comprehensive guides that cover what it is used for, symptoms, and possible health risks.

drugwatch.com/roundup/glyphosate/
drugwatch.com/roundup/

I do appreciated a well cited article and found it to be very illuminating. I do want to share this but I’m afraid it might be a bit hypocritical of me. So, in the interest of transparency and sharing my experiences, I have to admit that I did use some Roundup when working in a community garden just over a year ago. This would be the only time I have used it though. There was some particularly difficult ivy with its roots in a crack behind a building and we just couldn’t dig it up. No matter how much we hacked at it we just couldn’t get rid of it. After much discussion and some reluctance (after reading on the packaging about the bees and the fish and the run off) we made one application. It was in winter, during a dry spell, in the hope that it would be less damaging.

In all other work I have done in people’s gardens I have always dug up ivy at the roots to remove it. In this case it was a last resort. So, there is no judgement here if you have used, or do use it. However, this is worth reading before you make your next application.