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Make a resolution to sort out old garden chemicals

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 31, 2018

Be sure to dispose of any garden products that have expired; check the dates on the labels. (Photo: Shutterstock, courtesy Earth911.)

Pesticides expire, can be a fire danger; dispose of them safely

Out with the old, in with the new. On this windy New Year's Eve, it's a good time to take stock of garden chemicals.

Most gardeners tend to pile up an assortment of garden products (conventional or organic). A little is used for a specific issue and the rest set aside.

Over time, the garden shed or garage becomes a toxic storage site. It can be potentially dangerous. Pesticides are poisons; they kill pests. They can be deadly to people and pets, too.

They also can create a fire danger. According to the California Environmental Protection Agency, pesticides and fertilizers should not be stored together. "If you have to store pesticides in the same place as fertilizers, keep them apart," recommends the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. " Pesticides and fertilizers can react with each other and start a fire."

Pesticides expire. Most come with an expiration date on the label, usually two years after manufacture. Clear out expired products.

Don't use expired pesticides, says the state EPA. While sitting on the shelf, some mixtures undergo chemical changes that makes them highly unstable and unsafe. If applied, they can harm plants as well as cause potential reactions to the gardener.

Don't put them down the drain; your pipes won't like it and wastewater plants can't remove all the toxins. Never mix old garden chemicals into one container; they may react in spectacularly bad ways.

Empty containers need special handling, too. Plastic or glass bottles of pesticide, herbicide, fungicide and other products can't be added to recycling containers. Instead, they need to be treated as if they still contain those products because they do; the residue remains in the bottle. Never reuse an empty pesticide container.

But how do you get rid of them? Several waste treatment centers are available in our area. For Sacramento, the main facility is the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, 8491 Fruitridge Road, Sacramento; 916-379-0500.

To find the closest one to you, go to www.ApplyResponsibly.org and use its handy "dispose responsibly" links.

When transporting the chemicals and empty containers, put them in the trunk of your car, not the passenger compartment. (Some old chemicals may leak and cause fumes.) Keep containers upright. Make sure no food, animal feed or clothing is in the trunk with the chemicals; they can get contaminated.

For more tips on pesticide safety, check out this information from the state EPA: https://bit.ly/2LENseM

The University of California Cooperative Extension also offers a wealth of pesticide safety information here: https://bit.ly/2CJ9Px7

Get lots of tips on safe use and storage of garden chemicals (including videos) at www.ApplyResponsibly.org .

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Keywords:

Cal-EPA gardening Sacramento UCCE waste treatment herbicide pests pesticides fungicide fertilizers

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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