Three New Reasons To Avoid Roundup

For many years, Roundup-branded herbicides containing glyphosate have been the main chemical grass and weed killers available on the market. However, that is changing and there are a few things that are important to know. First, there are organic alternatives to Roundup that may not kill weeds quite as well but that work well enough and don’t come with the inherent risks of Roundup. Second, the chemicals inside the Roundup Grass & Weed Killer products are changing and may pose more of an issue to human and plant health than the original Roundup.

What's Changing?

Starting in 2024, many Roundup-branded herbicides available to consumers will no longer contain glyphosate. Instead, these products will feature other active ingredients such as diquat, fluazifop, and triclopyr. We recommend avoiding Roundup use in 99.9% of situations, but you might be interested in learning more about the new ingredients.

What's In The New Roundup?

• Diquat: A non-selective herbicide causing rapid wilting of treated plants. Concerns include its higher acute toxicity than glyphosate, with potential risks if improperly handled.
• Fluazifop: A selective herbicide targeting grassy weeds. It has a longer residual activity in the soil than glyphosate and can affect non-target plants.
• Triclopyr: Used for selective control of broadleaf weeds, it requires a rain-free period after application for maximum effect and can persist in soil for several weeks. Due to its long-lasting presence in soil, it can damage desirable plants and is particularly risky for flowering plants. For this reason, it is not a good choice for spraying weeds in your mulch beds. Many folks report damage to nearby plants after using this new Roundup formulation.

What Happened To Glyphosate?

Glyphosate has been sold under the trade name Roundup for over five decades. It has been widely used in agriculture and the landscape because of its weed-killing effectiveness, relatively fast degradation in the soil, and relatively low acute toxicity (LD50 > 5000 mg/kg). In recent years, Roundup has been associated with elevated cancer risks in agricultural workers, and there has been a push to remove it. That is great, but unfortunately, the “new” roundup isn’t any better and, in our opinion, may be worse from a health and environmental perspective.

What Are The Alternatives To Roundup?

For years we’ve been using Fatty Acids and Herbicidal Soaps to naturally suppress weeds. Our products don’t necessarily kill the roots like Roundup did, but they make it much easier to keep unwanted grass and weeds from taking over your mulch beds, driveways, and other landscape areas. You can choose to have Good Nature perform this work for you or do it yourself. 

Good Nature Landscape Weed Suppression

If you’re interested in having us treat your mulch beds, patios, or driveway for grass and weeds, we’d be happy to give you a quote. We come out about every 3-5 weeks over the Spring, Summer, and Fall to keep the weeds from getting out of hand. Let us know if you’d like a quote.

Do It Yourself Organic Weed Suppression

If you prefer to handle the weeds on your own, you can always pick them out. If you don’t have the time for that, we’d be happy to get you some of our Fatty Acid product, Deadweed Brew. You can get it in several sizes and handle the weeds yourself. Just let us know, and we can drop some off for you the next time we’re out or get it to you sooner if necessary.