TruGreen bills itself as one of the few remaining lawn care companies that know how to keep your grass green. They offer a variety of services to ward off pests, remove weeds, and bring life back to your lawn. If you’re curious about bees living near your lawn when you’re using TruGreen, then you’re in the right place.
TruGreen is safe for bees if you choose their fertilization services. However, they have a pesticide and an herbicide service that are both dangerous for bees. If you want to keep the bees safe, it’s best that you only request fertilizing and general lawn trimming services.
Throughout this article, you’ll also learn the following info about using TruGreen’s services when you have bees:
- Which services are safe for bees
- Which services shouldn’t be used from TruGreen if you have bees
- How you can protect the bees in your area when using TruGreen
What TruGreen Services Are Safe for Bees?
TruGreen offers all sorts of services that are and aren’t safe for bees. It’s common knowledge these days that many different species of bees are endangered, so it’s important that we take responsibility. Choosing the proper lawn care service is a huge part of making sure that bees continue to thrive in all environments.
Perhaps the most popular service offered by TruGreen is there lawn fertilization service, as mentioned in my fertilizer post here. If you want to keep your lawn thriving and looking good throughout the year, then this is the service you’ll be getting.
Here’s what the fertilization service from TruGreen includes:
- TruGreen will use granular and liquid fertilizer, depending on the weather and the time of year. Nevertheless, they recommend that you add water to the fertilizer if it doesn’t rain within 24 hours of the initial application. Hydration allows the fertilizer to soak into the grass’s roots to work correctly.
- They’ll use different types of oil to promote healthy tree growth (if you have any). This service isn’t included with all fertilization applications since it’s not as necessary for every visit. Instead, it’s applied once every few visits to keep your trees growing as they should. It also prevents root rot.
- When the lawn gets too long, TruGreen will trim it down to size. They also cover the corners, preventing weeds and other pesky plants from growing taller than your grass. Note that if you want to permanently remove weeds with TruGreen, you’ll need to request their herbicide service.
As you can see, TruGreen offers plenty of services and assistance that can be used without harming the local bees. By fertilizing and trimming your lawn, they’ll be able to keep your grass looking great year-round while the bees do what they do best.
Which Services Aren’t Save?
Unfortunately, not all of TruGreen’s services are safe for bees. In fact, Beyond Pesticides states that some of their services aren’t as safe as the company claims. TruGreen claims to put the safety and environmental guidelines at the from of its priorities, but the chemicals used in some of the treatments can be dangerous to humans, animals, and insects.
Two of TruGreen’s services aren’t safe for bees. Sadly, they’re not listed in the mentioned group of affected species at the time of this publication.
Here’s what you should know about the two non-bee-friendly services offered from TruGreen:
- They offer a pesticide service that’s used to ward off mosquitoes and flies. However, this service uses a variety of chemicals that are harmful to bees. They can cause birth defects, fatigue, and death in all species of bees. Furthermore, honeybees often carry the pesticides back to their hive, which causes more health problems.
- Another service that they have that’s harmful to bees is their herbicide treatment. While it’s not used to harm bees or other insects, herbicides are harmful to almost any living being. They’re good for removing weeds without damaging your lawn, but bees that come in contact with herbicides will experience various health issues.
Customer’s who’ve used TruGreen state that the fertilization and herbicide services don’t cause any harm to their local bee population. However, it’s a conditional situation that depends on whether or not the bees try to eat the herbicide or if it’s sprayed on neighboring flowers.
TruGreen claims that they do their best to keep herbicides off of local flowers since they can be damaged or ruined. Since they take the extra step to keep the chemicals off of bees’ food source, it’s unlikely that herbicides will be an issue. Nevertheless, it’s worth knowing in case you’re considering the service.
Note: If you’re truly worried about the herbicide service affecting the bees, inform the TruGreen team. They’ll be able to keep the chemicals away from the hive, flowers, and flying bees in the area. To learn more helpful tips that will promote healthy bees and keep them safe, proceed to the next section.
How Can You Keep the Bees Safe When Using TruGreen?
Although it seems like the bulk of their services aren’t safe for bees, there’s quite a bit you can do to keep them safe while using TruGreen. Remember that they still offer a couple of safe services, but it’s always better to stay in contact with the company to play it smart.
Try these suggestions to keep bees safe:
Inform TruGreen that there are bees near your lawn
Most lawn care companies, including TruGreen, focus on providing an eco-friendly service. However, it’s a wise idea to let TruGreen know that there are bees nearby. Not only will they be able to keep their chemicals away from the bees, but it’ll also keep the workers safe from bee stings and wasp bites.
Only get the aforementioned safe services
The best way to keep the bees safe is to only get safe services. It seems like a simple idea, but you don’t need to ask them for herbicides and pesticides to keep your lawn growing properly. There are plenty of all-natural herbicidal and pesticidal solutions, including various essential oils, that won’t harm bees.
Cover your flowers with tarps
If you’re insistent on getting pesticides and herbicides on your lawn and the surrounding area, use tarps to cover the flowers. Since bees tend to focus on bright flowers and pollen, protecting them with a tarp will keep your flowers bright and unharmed while also keeping the local bee population from getting harmed.
Bees are resilient insects, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe from pesticides and herbicides used by lawn care services. While TruGreen takes precautions when they’re applying these chemicals, that doesn’t mean bees will be safe from harm.
Tarps, plastic wrap, umbrellas, and many other makeshift shields will keep bees safe from the chemicals. You can get fairly cheap tarps on Amazon here that will do the job and won’t cost you a fortune. Besides that, a tarp is always handy to have. If you’re doing everything you can to prevent these problems, then there’s no need to assume that TruGreen isn’t safe for bees.
Conclusion
Bees are the lifeblood of many food chains, so it’s important that we choose the proper services the prevent them from being harmed. Now that you know how to use TruGreen without harming the bees, you’ll feel guilt-free moving forward.
Here’s a quick recap of the post:
- TruGreen’s fertilization service is safe to use if you have bees in the area.
- Their herbicide service should be used with caution in the presence of bees.
- Never use TruGreen’s pesticide service if there are bees nearby.
- Consider covering your plants with tarps to keep herbicides off of them.
- Always let TruGreen know if you have bees nearby so they can take the necessary precautions.