I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?

I thought Round Up was the stuff that killed everything!

The bed was well mulched by the same people a month or two ago, and
any weeds would have been little and scattered, so there was no way to
spray the weeds without spraying the mulch, and if they weren't
perfect, they probably sprayed the stem/trunk of the bushes, which are
about 6 feet high. I'm mostly worried about their spraying the
stem/trunk.

This is the first time anyone but me has sprayed any weed killer.

A picture on the Round Up website shows someone spraying a weed just a
foot from some flowers. but it also says " spray the weeds on the
leaves, not the soil. The formula enters the plant's system via the
leaves and travels through the plant's circulatory system to the
roots. "

If I tell the company to stop spraying, I'm 99% sure they will. How
often would good landscapers spray Round Up each year anyhow? Are
they done until next June?

On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 11:59:58 PM UTC-5, Micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?


When was the bed sprayed? If it was not a windy day there's
a good chance the bushed won't be harmed. I used RoundUp
frequently but just on weeds or poison ivy. But whenever I've
sprayed around bushes I use a cardboard 'collar' to protect
them.

On Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 1:35:15 AM UTC-4, ItsJoanNotJoann wrote:
On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 11:59:58 PM UTC-5, Micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?


When was the bed sprayed? If it was not a windy day there's
a good chance the bushed won't be harmed. I used RoundUp
frequently but just on weeds or poison ivy. But whenever I've
sprayed around bushes I use a cardboard 'collar' to protect
them.

+1

As long as it's not on the bush itself, it's fine. Getting it
on the soil doesn't matter. That's assuming it's Roundup (glyphosate).
But it's not hard to get drift where you don't want it. A decent
size bush, you'd just see some dead leaves where it contacted.
Get enough on and it will kill the whole thing.

On 06/22/2016 11:59 PM, Micky wrote:
I have 5 privet bushes, ... and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?

_Might?_ Sure. _Did?_ Probably not. As the instructions say "spray
the weeds on the leaves, not the soil. The formula enters the plant's
system via the leaves and travels through the plant's circulatory system
to the roots."

If there was some overspray it might cause a minor bit of damage but
unless was a lot you'll likely not see any ill effects whatever.

I thought Round Up was the stuff that killed everything!

Well, yes, but not _every_ thing--else't there wouldn't be Roundup-Ready
soybeans and other crops. It's a specific plant enzyme used in the
production of vital amino acids that is immobilized by glyphosate;
another soil bacterium using a slightly different gene sequence isn't
affected.

....

If I tell the company to stop spraying, I'm 99% sure they will. How
often would good landscapers spray Round Up each year anyhow? Are
they done until next June?

Well, if they're your contractors, they'd best do what you request...

But, my observation is that some spray essentially every month just as a
matter of course, whether need it or not. Again, if they're careful to
not spray the leaves there should be no damage; glyphosate breaks down
pretty quickly in the soil so unless they drown the plants there will be
no pickup that way of significance.

Guess you'll know for sure in a week or so...

--

On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 00:59:49 -0400, Micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?

I thought Round Up was the stuff that killed everything!

The bed was well mulched by the same people a month or two ago, and
any weeds would have been little and scattered, so there was no way to
spray the weeds without spraying the mulch, and if they weren't
perfect, they probably sprayed the stem/trunk of the bushes, which are
about 6 feet high. I'm mostly worried about their spraying the
stem/trunk.

This is the first time anyone but me has sprayed any weed killer.

A picture on the Round Up website shows someone spraying a weed just a
foot from some flowers. but it also says " spray the weeds on the
leaves, not the soil. The formula enters the plant's system via the
leaves and travels through the plant's circulatory system to the
roots. "

If I tell the company to stop spraying, I'm 99% sure they will. How
often would good landscapers spray Round Up each year anyhow? Are
they done until next June?

You dumb ass. Ask the company doing the spraying -- not us. You get dumber every day.

On Wed, 22 Jun 2016 22:35:10 -0700 (PDT), ItsJoanNotJoann
wrote:

On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 11:59:58 PM UTC-5, Micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?


When was the bed sprayed?

Three days ago. I don't know if it was windy or not.

If it was not a windy day there's
a good chance the bushed won't be harmed. I used RoundUp
frequently but just on weeds or poison ivy. But whenever I've
sprayed around bushes I use a cardboard 'collar' to protect
them.

I'm sure he didn't do that. It's a new landscaping company, and
their webpage makes them look very professional, but I'm still sure
they didn't do that. `

On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 06:06:06 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 1:35:15 AM UTC-4, ItsJoanNotJoann wrote:
On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 11:59:58 PM UTC-5, Micky wrote:

I have 5 privet bushes, (arranged in a U fwiw) and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?


When was the bed sprayed? If it was not a windy day there's
a good chance the bushed won't be harmed. I used RoundUp
frequently but just on weeds or poison ivy. But whenever I've
sprayed around bushes I use a cardboard 'collar' to protect
them.

+1

I'm 99.9% sure they didnt' use a collar.

As long as it's not on the bush itself, it's fine. Getting it
on the soil doesn't matter. That's assuming it's Roundup (glyphosate).

He put up a warning sign, "Caution Pesticide Application, Keep Off,
with an outline of an adult, child, and dog. Customer, Please remove
after 48 hours" so it must be something strong.

He wrote Rond up, but of course he might have been using the word
inaccurately, too broadly. I can't remember what diphthongs exist in
Spanish or if there are any words with an 'ou' sound. I can't think
of any so there probably aren't. He also crosses his 7's so that
may narrow it down still further where he comes from.

I noticed one of them mow the lawn that day. They drive a mower whose
blades are about 6' wide, they zoom by at at least 10mph, and it takes
maybe 120 seconds to do all 600 sq. ft. But it's a new company for
us and no one has every applied a weedkiller before, at least not one
with a sign.

But it's not hard to get drift where you don't want it. A decent
size bush, you'd just see some dead leaves where it contacted.
Get enough on and it will kill the whole thing.

That's enough for me. Well, almost. If I were sure they were going to
do it right and I would have bushes but not weeds, I'd be happy.

I've picked the weeds out many times, and I've sprayed less powerful
weed killer 2 or 3 times, and of course the weeds come back. OTOH,
there was no bed around the bushes when I bought the house, just grass
and that was fine. One time when I wasn't looking some prior
gardener made a bed around them, and that was fine too, but in the
last two years, the gardener, in an effort to make the bed nice has
been making it bigger by about a half each year**. That has the
effect of making it look like my neighbor owns an inch less than he
really does. Although all of this land is on the other side of a
sidewalk, and he probably doesn't even know he owns the 70 square feet
or so that he owns. I don't think he mows it. There's a third
neighbor who owns about 1 square foot of this area, the mother of the
volunteer mower, but I doubt if she knows it. (The area is slightly
triangular.)

**On one side. On the other side the bed is bordered by an
underground FIOS box with a plastic lid, so it doesn't get any bigger.

On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 08:11:10 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 06/22/2016 11:59 PM, Micky wrote:
I have 5 privet bushes, ... and someone sprayed
Round-Up on the bed around them. Is this something that should
bother me for horticultural reasons? That is, might he have damaged
the bushes?

_Might?_ Sure. _Did?_ Probably not. As the instructions say "spray
the weeds on the leaves, not the soil. The formula enters the plant's
system via the leaves and travels through the plant's circulatory system
to the roots."

If there was some overspray it might cause a minor bit of damage but
unless was a lot you'll likely not see any ill effects whatever.

I thought Round Up was the stuff that killed everything!

Well, yes, but not _every_ thing--else't there wouldn't be Roundup-Ready
soybeans and other crops. It's a specific plant enzyme used in the
production of vital amino acids that is immobilized by glyphosate;
another soil bacterium using a slightly different gene sequence isn't
affected.

...

If I tell the company to stop spraying, I'm 99% sure they will. How
often would good landscapers spray Round Up each year anyhow? Are
they done until next June?

Well, if they're your contractors, they'd best do what you request...

Ah but they're not mine. They're the HOA's contractor. The bushes
only occupy about 80 square feet, but 300 to 600 square feet of my
property, all of it outside my fence, the HOA president imagines
belongs to the HOA. I've told the HOA president and her predecessor
several times that they are mine.

Three or 4 years ago I sent a certified letter, RRR, to the management
company and the HOA pres, a letter that was still in their files a
couple months ago, explaining that the land was mine, but the old
president was an incredible jerk and I don't expect the new president
to have read everything in every file for 109 houses. In fact, maybe
most of it is none of her business.


Frankly, I like it that they do this, so I don't have to, but a
30-year old neighbor mows the lawn a lot more often than the
landscaper does. I've offered to pay him but he brushes me off. He
also mows the lawn for two of his neighbors. These are small
townhouse lawns, and the part of my land that he does is a lot less
than that, only 220 square feet, but still it takes him time and it's
very nice of him. But he doesn't trim the bushes, the landscaping
company does, and I'm happy that I don't have to, except the HOA
thinks they own the land.


Half of the land they might think is theirs is on the pedestrian
easement between my end-of-group townhouse and the one in the next
building, which is at right angles to my building. The owner of that
house seems to think that the 10' pedestrian easement behind his fence
belongs to the HOA, when in reality it belongs to him. At a HOA
meeting I pointed out the difference between an easement and HOA
property, but I don't think he was interested.

So when the landscaping company mowed those 600 sq. ft last summer, I
wrote to the president to tell her that I didn't mind them mowing it,
but they might save a little money if they stopped. Later I sent her
a portion of the plat covering my lot and 2 lots on either side, and
another version of the same thing but with my property line in red,
one n'bor's in green and the other in blue. (I didn't color them in
the first version because the color obscured some detail.) But she
wrote back that she didn't think I owned the land!

But, my observation is that some spray essentially every month just as a
matter of course, whether need it or not. Again, if they're careful to
not spray the leaves there should be no damage; glyphosate breaks down
pretty quickly in the soil so unless they drown the plants there will be
no pickup that way of significance.

Guess you'll know for sure in a week or so...

I'll wait a week before I call them!





My n'hood has an HOA that hires a landscaper to mow the lawn, plant
flowers, etc. on the small percentage of the land that is owned in
common. We frequently change contractors. One went on to other work,
one died, one had a deal with the previous HOA president that he would
mow her lawn and shovel snow off of her walk in return for a long term
contract (We couldn't prove this because they are all willing to mow
or shovel individual homes for extra money, and I see nothing wrong
with that, except in this case.) and other reasons.