San Mateo residents may notice more weeds in parks and medians after officials opted to stop using the herbicide glyphosate, also known by the brand name Roundup, on city-owned properties in March.
Mike Blondino, the city’s parks and landscape manager, said the city has been reducing its use of herbicides in parks in recent years and began cutting back on use of Roundup in mid-2018. In light of concerns about the health effects of exposure to the herbicide, officials decided in March to end use of it completely and instead turn their focus on testing alternative methods of weed control, he said. As city staff turn to hand pulling, mulching weed beds and using mechanical line trimmers to curb the appearance of the pesky plants, Blondino acknowledged park visitors may notice more weeds than they are accustomed to seeing.
“Our parks are going to look different going forward,” he said. “There are going to be weeds in our parks, they’re not as manicured as before.”
Blondino acknowledged glyphosate kills weeds and their roots, while most other weed control methods have proven to be less effective at killing weeds at their roots. Though city staff plan to explore alternate spray methods, Blondino said they would test those options within the confines of the city’s Parks Yard and discuss any other spray methods that could be effective with the Park and Recreation Commission and City Council before using them in public places.
He said staff are trained in a variety of spray techniques and other weed mitigation methods annually and will wear protective gear and take all recommended precautions when testing new products. Blondino said the city last year tested a steam device that proved to be less effective than they hoped and predicted alternative methods would likely be more expensive and less effective than glyphosate.
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“There is cost to everything and we’ve got to look at every alternative we can,” he said. “Technology changes and we will just keep trying new things.”
In addition to the city’s parks, residents may see more weeds around buildings like San Mateo’s City Hall and Senior Center and the Poplar Creek Golf Course, noted Blondino, who added tools like line trimmers may be challenging to use in certain areas like center medians as well. He said a group of volunteers stepping forward to help pull weeds at Beresford Park have boosted staff’s efforts to control weeds without Roundup and noted staff time dedicated to weed mitigation could also increase with the change.
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