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Weed and feed upslope #910338

Asked July 18, 2025, 8:17 AM EDT

My new neighbors are putting down "weed and feed" as he said which is upslope from my yard. I have a paw paw tree along the fenceline along with other edible plants. Theres a slight slope downhill to my yard but we don't get a ton of surface runoff. Is it still safe to eat those plants? We do have a barrier of single holly trees between their lawn and my yard as well. The paw paw is connected underground with a few in my yard. Would those fruits be ok to eat since they're still part of the same tree system?

Howard County Maryland

Expert Response

It's probably fine, because if the plants get enough herbicide exposure to affect them, it would likely cause dieback or blatant symptoms on their new growth, so it would cause more damage than just contaminated fruit. (It's not likely the tree would absorb enough via roots to move a chemical into the fruits anyway.)

Unfortunately, it's not a good practice to use weed-and-feed on lawns for several reasons (and the only grass type that should be fertilized this time of year would be zoysia, and even then, it's getting late to do so), but we imagine you might not be able to convince them to stop. (Rarely can a product be applied in weather this hot anyway, as it risks volatilization, or evaporation of some of the chemical, which can allow for more drift. Any weather restrictions would be listed on the product label.) Depending on the herbicide ingredient(s) in the product, some are more prone to leaching or drift than others, but since you mentioned not getting much runoff from their yard, that will help to minimize any exposure to anything on your side of the property line.

Miri

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