The pledge
The pollinator pledge, step by step
I will not apply a product to a plant in open bloom. Here is how that sentence is kept, from the first walk to the check visit.
- 01
Step 1: Walk the garden with you
I look at the beds and the house, and I note what is in bloom and what is about to be. Bloom decides the day, and sometimes it decides that I come back next week.
- 02
Step 2: Name the problem
I work out what is actually there before I choose anything. Many insects in a bed are doing useful work, and I tell you which ones to leave alone.
- 03
Step 3: Start with what touches nothing else
Hand-removal, netting, row covers, a trap, a sealed gap, a change in how water sits. Most visits end here.
- 04
Step 4: Treat the spot, not the garden
If something has to be applied, it goes on the affected plants and no others, never on open blooms, early or late in the day when pollinators are least active, exactly as the label directs.
- 05
Step 5: Write down what I used
You get a note with the product, the place, the date and how long to keep children and pets away. The product list is yours on request.
- 06
Step 6: Come back and look
I return in two or three weeks to see whether it worked. If it didn't, I tell you, and we try the next step rather than a stronger version of the same one.
Where the pledge stops
What I will do, and what I can't promise
A pledge is only worth what its limits say. These are mine.
| On the garden | I will | I can't |
|---|---|---|
| Open blooms | I willLeave them untreated, and come back after they close | I can'tControl what a neighbor sprays across the fence |
| Timing | I willWork early or late in the day, when pollinators are least active | I can'tSay that no bee will ever visit a treated plant |
| Products | I willTell you what I used, where and when | I can'tCall a product gentle on bees because of its label |
| Results | I willCheck back and tell you if it didn't work | I can'tPromise a pest-free garden |
Licenses and labels
The label is the law, and I read it with you.
Every product I apply has a label that says where it can go, how much, and what to keep away. I follow it, and I'll show it to you. Some of what I use is OMRI-listed, which means a nonprofit reviewed it for organic production; I mark those on the product list. Being on that list isn't the same as being gentle on bees, so the pledge applies to those products too.
I hold the state's pesticide applicator license, and the business is licensed too
The product list for your visit, on request, before or after
Questions about a label are always welcome
About the pledge
What counts as open bloom?
Any flower that is open and open to visitors. Some plants, like squash, open for a few hours in the morning, so I time my visit around them.
What if a plant is eaten but still flowering?
I deal with the pest by hand or with a barrier, or I come back when the flowers are over. A plant that has to be treated while flowering is one I tell you about first.
Is the pledge a promise about results?
No. It is a promise about how I work, and I keep it on every visit. It can't cover things I can't see, like what is sprayed next door. What I offer on results, with its terms, is on the cost page.
See the pledge on your own garden
Book a first walk, or text a photo of something you want me to look at.