When Good People Use Roundup
By Linda Mason Hunter

June 1, 2010: That I would recommend using the weed killer Roundup™ surprises no one as much as it surprises me. I have gardened and tended my lawn for 20 years without using any synthetic pesticides or herbicides. But this year is different. Creeping Charlie is creeping into every nook and cranny, lemon verbena is growing faster than I can pull it, chives are spreading like an itch of poison ivy, and I’m getting plum tired. It’s time to call in the big guns.

That’s why I was gratified to read in Veronica Lorson Fowler’s web-based newsletter The Iowa Gardener that sometimes good people do use Roundup (made by Monsanto, the company we love to hate). Of course, hand weeding is always the best choice for the eco-conscious gardener. But Roundup™ isn’t the evil I once thought it was. Experts assure me that it’s one of the safest herbicides to use because it kills most weeds without harming beneficial insects and has a short life in the soil. When used in accordance with instructions on the label, it’s relatively safe for humans and the environment.

Best advice: If hand weeding just isn’t getting the job done, use Roundup™ sparingly, on a sunny day, and expect to have to spray two or three times.

It’s okay. Really.

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