Reflections from Crumbly Acres: grubex

We love our backyard visitors. We know we have grubs. Our lawn isn't that important to us. There are many who spend hours pruning their lawns for dandelions.

Gardeners cross-border shop for illegal pesticides

CBC has done a good piece on this. Our Federal government regulates toxic chemicals used in these products. Ontario further regulates products, as do 5 other provinces. David Suzuki has done a report. Read the full Suzuki Foundation report (PDF)

For more information on what's banned...

Class 9 pesticides are banned for cosmetic purposes because they may pose an unnecessary risk to human health, particularly children’s health.

Grubex is banned in Ontario, yet people are smuggling it across the border.
In a Lowes store in the US, There is a $5000 fine in Ogdensburg for decanting pesticides. (This is the closest border crossing to Ottawa.) People are doing it. They find empty pesticide containers in the ditches.

Sure enough, out in the parking lot of the very same Lowes, William Mallette of Brockville, Ont., was just finishing a bi-weekly shopping trip to the U.S. Mallette admitted to buying banned chemicals for his yard. He uses herbicides to kill weeds around the border of his lawn, applying them at night when no one can see him.

CBC Ottawa radio did a report this morning. One guy tried to bring a truck full of Grubex across the border only to be turned back. He wasn't fined, but returned it to the store. It is simply shocking. These products cause cancer.

Ottawans are heading to NY State to buy pesticides that are banned here, but legal there. An organic farmer with a part-time job at a garden centre in Ogdensburg blows the whistle on @ottawamorning pic.twitter.com/HIIL2emyg6

— Hallie Cotnam (@HallieCBC) May 24, 2018

Hubby was in the store looking for something for our apple trees. Another gentleman was told a product he was trying to buy was banned. He asked, "Well, where else can I buy it?" The clerk suggested a nursery. Professionals can still use these products, as they know how to properly handle them.

How To Care For a Lawn

It is important to understand how to take care of lawns in 2018. People have to leave them longer to let the roots grow strong. This helps them fight the grubs. If you have grubs, you can use a biologic nematodes, which kills them in the fall.

How to get rid of grubs in lawn naturally