Question
QUESTION: two year old creeping juniper, as a border. Sparse in the center, there was thick grass growing there,I put on grass killer. Now the grass is dead, still there. The plants seem to be growing, thoughstill sparse inthe center, and some limbs have some yellow/browning. One looks like it might die, the others are still big. Any way of fixing them? Trimming? Fertilizer? Was it the grass that made them sparse in the center? Was I wrong in killing the grass? Should I dig them up next year and and start all over?

ANSWER: Scotts sells a Killer for everything, it seems.  These Grass Killers have a LOT of side effects that you don't think about.  Because when you use it, all you're think about is those beautiful Scotts commercials, the picture perfect lawns, and the reassuring voice over.  They don't show you scenes like yours.

I deal with these questions ALL SUMMER LONG, Jason.  There's nothing worse than a happy Scotts customer, an accident waiting to happen, toxic waste all over the place and no clue why.

Sorry -- it's so frustrating to sit here day after day and solve Scotts's customer problems.

They probably warned you on the Grass Killer container (do they really call it that?  What Grass Killer are we talking about, Jason?) not to spray/spread it under your shrubs.  I need to know the brand you used.

rsvp

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The product was "Round Up" Grass and weed and grass killer.  We just sprayed it in the center of the juniper, trying to get only the grass and not the branches. Like I said.. there is green. some of the tips/ends are light. The grass is dead, and the dead grass/root system is still remaining. I put mulch over it covering the dead grass, and the central stem system. Anything to do about the sparseness in the center? And should I be concerned with some of the light, yellowing on some of the tips? help? I believe there is life there striving, but unsure of how to help them survive.

Answer
Yikes! Round-Up? Holy Toledo, Jason!

Scotts must be making a ton of money on commissions marketing this Monsanto product -- which has become THE best selling agricultural chemical in history since the invention and patenting of glyphosphate in the 1970.  Round-Up is exactly what they spray out of DEA helicopters all over the jungles of Colombia targeting Cocaine farms.  Everybody buys this stuff.  They LOVE to spray things.  It feels like you're cleaning the windows plus it has this eerie gun trigger-pulling feel to it.  So it's very easy to forget that in the slightest breeze, non-targets become instant collateral damage.  See this photo posted by Purdue University Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory:

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/weeklypics/5-15-06.html

'Residual Roundup Damage' is just one of those things you have to watch for when spraying with glyphosphate.  As Purdue researchers note: 'Roundup can kill a lot of plants because the plant takes up the herbicide and transports it to the roots and other parts of the plant. This is why Roundup is such an effective herbicide. While many herbicides do damage to the parts of the plant they come in direct contact with, Roundup actually "penetrates" the entire plant and kills it to the roots. This is great if you are trying to control dandelions, but not so great if you accidentally spray your trees and shrubs with Roundup.'

In the case of the Peach and Apple trees in the Purdue illustration, weed-spraying had been done MONTHS earlier, in the Fall.  But Winter arrived, and the plants were dormant.  As they leafed out in the spring -- later than usual -- damage became obvious.  Not on ALL trees in the area.  Only on the Peach and Apple trees.

'These species have a tendency to send up suckers. If Roundup was sprayed in late summer or fall when suckers were present, the herbicide could have been taken up, transported around the plant, and when the trees break dormancy, the damage is apparent. Prunus and Malus species also have thin bark, especially on young trees.'

Consider what they say on the 'Glyphosphate Fact Sheet' by Safe2Use when you think about the way you reached in with the spray bottle, moving branches out of the way, to get a few weeds:

'Glyphosate is one of the most toxic herbicides, with many species of wild plants being damaged or killed by applications of less than 10 micrograms per plant.'

A few weeks ago, my friend, I would have told you to throw in the towel with these damaged junipers.  Let the chips fall where they may.  But in the past month, I have been reading extensively about a relatively new product on the market that is not widely distributed or heavily advertised, but for this case, it may be just what the doctor ordered.

The product is called 'Messenger'.  It sounds to me like it excels at cell repair and disease resistance.  The only conversation I had in the store with a sales clerk -- one of the few people aware that the store was selling it --  consisted of her advice to me: 'You have to fertilize more.'  I suspect this may be true -- because tissue repair is not something you make out of thing air.  You need more nutrients than you would to grow any other day.  This frankly is the fault of the people who make and market Messenger.  You won't learn from them that this is a patented product invented at Cornell University.  You won't really learn anything at all from the packaging.  You have to read the Cornell patent application and the lab research papers that are posted or distributed.  Every week there's some 'new' bell or whistle that someone's coming out with, so I am very wary of claims that anything is 'new'.  But this stuff is amazing.  Given all the things I could have used it for, I wish they had had the brains to come up with it sooner.   I'd tell you to see for yourself if it can initiate accelerated repair and recovery of your Round-Up damaged shrubs.

Here's what the EPA website says about Messenger:

'Harpin alpha-beta protein is a harpin-based active ingredient similar in chemical structure and biological activity to Harpin protein (Messenger) registered in April, 2000.  It acts by initiating a complex defense mechanism in plants, analogous in some ways to a broad spectrum
immune response in animals.  This protective response makes the plant resistant to a wide range of fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases during crop growth and post-harvest.'  Translation: Harpin Protein makes plants stronger and healthier.

So I am pretty positive about what Messenger can do for your
Junipers.  Since it is not widely available, check the Eden Bioscience website to find a local retailer:

http://www.edenbio.com/garden/

(click on 'Find a Retailer')

Back to the Glyphosate Fact Sheet.  Notes Safe2Use:

'Aerial spraying with glyphosate can give average drifts of 1200 to 2500 feet and ground spraying with glyphosate may cause damage to sensitive plants up to 300 feet from the field sprayed.  Glyphosate use is thought to affect hedgerow trees, causing DIE-BACK, and may REDUCE TREES' WINTER HARDINESS and RESISTANCE TO FUNGAL DISEASE.'  Everything you describe sounds like Textbook Round-Up wreckage to me.  You're lucky it's not worse.  I do believe Messenger is going to help them.  And not just a little.  The sooner, the better.  Whether spraying, root application, or both is best, I don't yet know.  But I'd like to hear what kind of results you get if you do use it for this problem.

Now let's go over a few details about glyphosphate that you should know.

Glyphosphate, by itself, is touted as having a relatively low short-term toxicity -- so far as they can tell -- on humans.  Reason being that unlike other Weed Killers, glyphosphate does not affect the nervous system.

But Weed Killers based on glyphosate also contain other chemicals, and those ARE toxic.  A large majority contain surfactants called 'polyoxyethyleneamines' -- POEA for short -- and these ARE often poisonous.  THIS INCLUDES ROUNDUP.  See the Glyphosphate Fact Sheet posted by the 'Safe To Use' website:

http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/organo/glyphosate.htm

Additionally, Round-Up does affect human placentas and other non-nervous-system functions -- women living on farms, for instance, have an incredibly high miscarriage rate.  So don't start thinking that this is safe.  It's bad in many ways.  Just think of the possibilities in your own home, with your pets, or yourselves.  Consider also how much cheaper, how much easier it would have been to ask The Long Island Gardener how to get rid of those Weeds where this all began.  And next time, try to see if you can hand pull them, instead of Rounding them Up.

Thanks for writing.  Any more questions?

(ps: thank you for your generous rating.)