An Organic Gardener’s Relationship with Roundup

In a perfect world there would be no weapons, and we would all live in peace. Weapons are an

evil, not unlike a chemical shed filled with herbicides in the hands of a farmer. The overuse of

herbicides is a problem, and we would be better off if we had systems that worked without their

use. I am an organic gardener, and I reject the use of herbicides in our managed gardens and

wilderness areas, but with exception. Where though, do we draw the line and when does it make

sense to accept the use of herbicide applications?

Firstly, talking about herbicides can lead down a deep rabbit hole into a myriad of different

active ingredients and label names that have been engineered like the cure for cancer, except

these unfortunately have been more successful in their endeavors (ironically). To keep it simple,

there are selective herbicides, and non-selective herbicides, all of them “weed killers”, but some

can be sprayed and only kill or damage certain species of plants while not affecting others. If it

were my prerogative in local legislation, I would wave a magic wand and eliminate the sale and

use of these for residential areas except for one, and that is active ingredient glyphosate, label

name Roundup.

I know what you might be thinking: “woah woah woah, Roundup? Isn’t that like the biggest bad

of all the bads?” To which I reply: “let’s get some background knowledge and start

understanding.” I am not talking about Roundup as a brand. In fact, I was surprised to see in my

own Father-in-law’s garage a bottle of branded Roundup with, upon closer inspection, the active

ingredient was NOT glyphosate but rather triclopyre, which I was quite bothered by as it

confuses the average consumer, Roundup was the original brand name developed by Monsanto

of their formulation of glyphosate. What I am talking about here is glyphosate. Glyphosate is

what is called a non-selective herbicide. It targets all plants. When a plant absorbs it through its

foliage it works to inhibit plants’ ability to produce amino acids, effectively killing them over the

course of about a week. Glypohosate is not very active in soil and does little to affect plants

when absorbed through roots, however, there has been research that shows that it damages

healthy soil microbiomes. Once glyphosate hits soil it begins breaking down, consumed by

bacteria that live in soil. It essentially has a half-life which varies based on environmental and

soil conditions.

In our company, that boasts an organic approach to gardening, we make few rare exceptions for

the use of glyphosate and we avoid other herbicides. Here are the exceptions:

1. The removal of Bermuda grass or zoysia in beds. Why? Bermuda and zoysia are very

difficult to pull, often leaving their roots, in the ground to regrow. Particularly Bermuda is

one of the absolutely worst weeds you could possibly have in your garden. Getting it

under control early and often is crucial, and sacrificing the use of some herbicide is worth

it, in my opinion.

2. Spraying of Japanese Stilt grass. Why? Japanese stilt grass is extremely easy to pull but it

grows in vast abundance, choking out forest floors and running along stream banks where

rich native biodiversity could otherwise be. The silver lining about Japanese stilt grass is

that dies to a 1% glyphosate concentration which leaves very little damage to other

surrounding areas and often doesn’t kill other plants. It is important to note that a specific

formulation of Glyphosate should be used in this situation that decomposes more safely

and readily in water (often called aqua safe) and that an aqua safe surfactant is also used

because Japanese Stilt grass grows along creeks and streams and wetland adjacent areas.

If herbicide was able to infiltrate these spaces and get into water, it could have a

detrimental impact on amphibians who absorb liquids through their skin. Regardless, if

we want to reclaim land overrun by Japanese stilt grass, Microstegium vimineum, it is an

effective weapon and tool.

3. Spraying of cut stumps. Why? When removing large woody invasives that are beyond

reasonable labor efforts to pull out of the ground, the strategy we employ is to cut the

plant off at the base and apply glyphosate. When this has been done the vascular tissue is

exposed and open just inside the bark. A higher concentration of glyphosate can then be

applied directly to the stump and kill the plant systemically. This is highly efficient and if

done correctly will result in killing a massive invasive shrubs or vines that would have

otherwise easily regenerated back from the base while minimizing the exposure of

herbicide to a very small, targeted area.

Herbicide is a weapon, but it is also a tool. It should be used as sparingly as possible only in

noble pursuits and its broad applications of it should be avoided. In the United States, wheat

farmers do a broad application spray of glyphosate over their crop two weeks from harvest, this

is called desiccation, and it dries out and kills the wheat plant and makes the wheat berries much

more efficient to harvest. I mention this to give frame to how loosely regulated and heavy handed

we are with its use in other industries. At home, we should let our lawns grow weedy and only

resolve to use herbicides when absolutely necessary and favor clean organic methods across the

board otherwise.