The inaugural competition drew hundreds of submissions from around the world, each showcasing how designers use Vectorworks to transform vision into reality. In every category, one grand-prize project earned the title of Creative Genius, and two additional projects were honored as Design Innovators. 

A panel of Vectorworks executives, industry experts and creative professionals evaluated entries on design quality, effective use of Vectorworks features, originality and innovation, presentation and sustainability.  

“The Vectorworks community continues to inspire us with their imagination and mastery,” said Vectorworks director of customer experience Tamsin Slatter. “Each Creative Genius Award winner exemplifies what’s possible when technology meets vision — pushing the limits of what can be drawn, documented and delivered. Their work advances design in their own disciplines and sets a benchmark for how Vectorworks can be used to solve complex, real-world challenges.”

In the Landscape Design category, the Creative Genius and Design innovators awards winners included:

Creative Genius: PWL Partnership — Promontory Park 

Selected for demonstrating that site design can meet and exceed sustainability objectives without sacrificing aesthetic quality, PWL Partnership transformed a standard design file into a hybrid, data-rich Vectorworks landscape model that combined scripting, GIS, terrain modeling and internal libraries into a single workflow. This approach enabled real-time tracking of key metrics and helped shape an accessible, engaging public-realm experience. 

Design Innovators 

• Nick Züchner – BIM in Landscape Architecture 
• Jim Rounsevell – Twisted Pretzel (Waisen Bridge Concepts) 

To see a full list of Creative Genius Award winners with photos, visit the Vectorworks awards results webpage. Congratulations to this year’s Creative Genius Award winners and Design Innovators.

Each Creative Genius Award winner will receive $5,000 USD, Vectorworks certification and training, a free pass to a leading industry show, exclusive Vectorworks swag and a custom tech bundle. Vectorworks also recognized the Design Innovators for their outstanding work and creative use of the software, awarding them professional training and exclusive swag. 

SpringGreen celebrates Marty and Kelly Amundson for 10 years of franchise ownership

SpringGreen is proud to celebrate franchise owners Marty and Kelly Amundson as they mark 10 years in business while renewing their franchise agreement for an additional 10 years, reinforcing their long-term commitment to their customers, team and community, according to the company.

Over the past decade, the Amundsons have built a strong local business focused on delivering reliable, professional lawn, pest and tree care services. Today, they serve more than 2,400 customers and lead a team of nine employees, reflecting steady growth and a commitment to consistent, high-quality service.

Their approach centers on understanding customer needs and providing tailored solutions that help homeowners achieve healthy, beautiful outdoor spaces.

“We are proud to recognize Marty and Kelly for reaching this 10-year milestone and continuing their journey with SpringGreen,” said Brad Johnson, president of SpringGreen. “Their dedication to their customers and their consistent execution reflect the strength of our franchise network. Renewals like this speak to the long-term value of the SpringGreen system.”

Their decision to renew highlights both their confidence in the SpringGreen brand and their commitment to continued growth in their local market.

“We’re grateful for the relationships we’ve built over the past 10 years,” said Marty Amundson. “Renewing our agreement allows us to keep growing our business while continuing to provide the level of service our customers expect and deserve.”

Mulhalls launches Greenhall Commercial Landscapes in Nebraska

Mulhalls, an Omaha, Neb.-based family of green industry businesses, is launching Greenhall Commercial Landscapes, a new business unit dedicated to serving the growing commercial landscape market.

Greenhall Commercial Landscapes will focus exclusively on commercial landscape management, landscape construction, snow and ice management and interior landscapes. This evolution reflects a clearer and more intentional commitment to Mulhalls’ commercial customers, allowing the company to better align its teams, resources and expertise around their needs. The focused approach builds on decades of experience contributing to some of the most prominent commercial properties across the region, according to the company.

“We’re proud of the work we’ve done, the team we’ve built, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead,” said Mick Mulhall, CEO. “This step allows us to more clearly demonstrate our commitment to our commercial customers and deliver an even higher level of service and expertise.”

The launch of Greenhall Commercial Landscapes allows Mulhalls’ broader business to sharpen its focus while remaining rooted in its longstanding purpose of beautifying the communities it serves, according to the company.

Mulhalls Garden + Home will continue to serve customers at its flagship location, offering plants, garden supplies, patio furniture and home and holiday decor. The store will also expand its support for the region’s growing community of residential landscaping professionals through an enhanced pro program, with additional offerings to be announced.

“Our commitment to our community remains unchanged,” said Mulhall. “We’re focused on making this a more beautiful place to live — whether through exceptional commercial landscapes or by inspiring our customers and partners through our retail experience.”

<p>The post Companies in the News: Updates from Vectorworks, SpringGreen and Mulhalls first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

The program will provide meaningful financial support for the education of worthy scholarship candidates. The IA scholarship will be awarded based on the student’s letter of intent, financial need, reference letters, resume and a list of irrigation-related courses taken or enrolled in. Students can only be a scholarship recipient once.

Students may submit applications through April 17, 2026. Full program details and eligibility requirements are available on the IA’s website.

To apply, students must create a SmarterSelect account and complete the entire application form. The form includes providing the student’s:

• Resume
• List of irrigation-related courses taken
• Contact details for two references, including name, title, email and organization:
  • One reference must be an academic instructor
  • The second must be a non-instructor reference

Once the application is submitted, the student’s references will receive an email from SmarterSelect prompting them to upload a letter of recommendation on their behalf. All reference letters must be submitted by April 17.

Winners will be notified by May 1, 2026.

Rain Bird Corporation will be the exclusive sponsor of the 2022-2026 workforce development scholarship program. To honor Rain Bird’s late president and CEO, through 2026 the program has been renamed the Anthony W. “Tony” LaFetra Scholarship Program Sponsored by Rain Bird. In addition, the two top scholarship winners will be designated as Anthony W. “Tony” LaFetra scholars.

<p>The post Applications open for Irrigation Association scholarship program first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

The Inc. Regionals lists are ranked according to percentage revenue growth over a two-year period. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2022. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit and independent — not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies — as of Dec. 31, 2024. The minimum revenue required for 2022 is $100,000; the minimum for 2024 is $1 million.

“We’re honored to be recognized by Inc. as the 14th fastest-growing private company in the Southeast — and even more proud to be ranked 4th among software companies on the list,” said Jamie Royce, CEO of MindCloud. “This recognition reflects our team’s commitment to solving complex integration challenges by first truly understanding the problems our customers face. We believe growth is the result of helping organizations create clarity from complexity and we’re just getting started.”

“The honorees on this year’s Inc. Regionals list achieved exceptional growth at a time when the odds were against them,” said Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “Amid inflation, supply chain disruptions and ongoing economic uncertainty, they didn’t just persevere — they innovated, adapted and thrived. Their resilience made them standouts in their industries and true growth engines in their regions.”

<p>The post Inc. names MindCloud on list of the fastest-growing private companies in the Southeast first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

Following the recent merger of three separate websites into one corporate domain, the consolidated catalog represents one of the final steps in unifying all subsidiaries under the Bailey brand. The initiative is made to streamline the procurement process for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), dealers and distributors by providing a centralized source for both hydraulic and electronic components.

“The new master catalog reinforces Bailey’s commitment to innovation and customer service by streamlining access to thousands of standard and custom components,” said Daniel Stoltz, product lead for Bailey’s hydraulics division.

Currently, the consolidated catalog is available for digital viewing and to download here. To further support customers in the field, Bailey plans to print and distribute hard copies of the master catalog later this year.

“This catalog reflects the way our customers design and build machinery, integrating electronic controls and hydraulic components into complete, fully engineered systems,” said Nicholas Whyte, product manager for the company’s electronics division.

<p>The post Bailey International launches unified product catalog first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

The new 600AJ+ model, engineered with an enhanced working envelope, offers strong working performance with a maximum platform height of 60 feet, horizontal outreach of 38 feet and up-and-over height of 27 feet, 3 inches, providing operators with the reach and maneuverability needed to access challenging work areas efficiently.

Next-generation design and performance 

The 600AJ+ features an improved boom architecture that enhances stability and provides smoother operation throughout the expanded work envelope. The machine has a single-function tower boom design with no rear arm stack, reducing sway and improving speed to height.

Operators can also work more efficiently using four planned boom control modes, including: 

• Go-Home 
• Go-To-Height 
• Planar Mode for Vertical Platform Tracking 
• QuikStik

These control options allow operators to complete tasks faster and position the platform with greater accuracy. 

Built for productivity and fleet connectivity 

The 600AJ+ integrates ClearSky Smart Fleet technology, providing industry-first two-way data transmission, transforming traditional one-way telematics into interactive fleet connectivity. This capability helps fleet managers monitor equipment performance, streamline maintenance planning and unlock new productivity insights. 

To further support uptime and machine efficiency, the machine includes the following service-focused improvements:

• Centralized fuse box to locate all fuses in one place 
• Protected internal power track, with multiple service breaks, to minimize debris and UV exposure 
• Improved overhead engine access with more common parts, oil and fuel filters, in front of the engine, for ease of access
• Single part number bi-directional tires to simplify parts management 
• Enhanced swivel clearance and drive motors for service access 

Previewing the future of JLG boom lifts 

The 600AJ+ was previewed as part of JLG’s showcase of next-generation boom lift innovations at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026. The machine represents JLG’s commitment to designing equipment that helps improves productivity, enhances operator experience and supports the evolving needs of equipment rental companies and contractors, according to the company.

Note: Specifications are preliminary and subject to change prior to final production. 

<p>The post JLG introduces next-generation 600AJ+ boom lift first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

Launched during Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April, the platform’s Enforce automatically restricts access to distracting apps, calls, texts and notifications. There is no opt-in, no override and no reliance on employee discipline.

Enforce operates seamlessly in the background on both iOS and Android devices, including company-issued and BYOD, and restores full device functionality as soon as the vehicle stops.  

Truce’s fully modular platform includes:  

• Enforce — Automatically applies your company’s mobile device policy the moment a vehicle is in motion, engineering out device-distracted driving at the source and delivering measurable duty-of-care compliance on every trip.  
• Empower — Drivers have real-time access to their personal driving scores, skills progression and team rankings, turning safety and performance data into individual accountability and self-directed improvement.  
• Engage — Delivers personalized, in-app coaching workflows that automatically connect supervisors and drivers around scored events, creating a continuous feedback loop that drives measurable behavior change at scale.  
• Engage Plus — Automatically detects when driving ends and field work begins, extending real-time location visibility, workforce communication and incident escalation to the jobsite for full-workday duty-of-care coverage.  
• Defend — Combines road-facing and driver-facing AI dashcams with real-time in-cab alerts, voice-activated capture and verified incident evidence to protect drivers, accelerate claims resolution and reduce liability exposure.  
• Maintain — Monitors vehicle diagnostics, fault codes and location data in real time through connected vehicle telematics, shifting fleet operations from reactive repairs to proactive asset management that reduces downtime and extends vehicle life.

Each module is available independently or as part of a fully integrated platform, making it practical for any fleet, at any stage of their safety program development, according to the company.

The company reports that in 2025, Truce intercepted more than 97 million unauthorized app attempts and blocked more than 35 million incoming notifications before they reached drivers’ devices. Companies deploying Enforce have reported accident reductions of 40-47 percent within the first year, along with decreases in accident-related costs of up to 86 percent.  

A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Truce found that organizations using the platform achieved a 360-percent return on investment over three years, with full payback in under three months.   

“Fifteen years of Truce data shows drivers face a device distraction opportunity once every 10 miles behind the wheel,” said David Coleman, head of commercial solutions at Truce Software. ”For a typical employee, that’s thousands of moments every year where you’re asking them to choose the road over their phone. No policy survives those odds. Our Enforce module removes the choice entirely.”  

<p>The post Truce Software launches six-module driver safety platform to reduce fleet risk first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

This partnership brings together two legacy brands with deep roots in Ohio and a shared commitment to quality, service and long-term customer relationships. By joining forces with Buckeye Landscape Service, Exscape Group is building on the strength of this historically prominent landscape company while expanding its ability to serve customers throughout Columbus and the surrounding communities.

Customers in Columbus and surrounding areas are now backed by the added strength of a growing regional platform.

“Buckeye has long been a respected name in the Columbus market, and we’re proud to welcome Matthew Esterer and the Buckeye team into Exscape Group,” said Bill Dysert, CEO of Exscape Group. “This partnership is about honoring the legacy Buckeye built while strengthening it with the resources, support and the long-term vision of our platform. Together, we’re creating something even stronger for our employees, our customers and the communities we serve.”

Matthew Esterer, owner of Buckeye Landscape Service, said the partnership represents an exciting next chapter for the company and its team.

“Buckeye has built its reputation over many years by delivering dependable service and strong relationships throughout the Columbus area,” said Esterer. “Partnering with Exscape Group gives us the opportunity to build on that foundation, invest in our people and continue delivering the high level of service our customers have come to expect. We’re excited about what this means for the future.”

<p>The post Exscape Group expands Columbus footprint through Buckeye Landscape partnership first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

“At Grabo, innovation never stops,” said Nimo Rotem, Grabo co-founder and CEO. “Every tool and accessory we add to our ecosystem is a deliberate step forward, closer to the future of heavy lifting. We have a mountain of ideas still to come, and our mission is to keep climbing until every professional on every jobsite has exactly what they need.”

Ottovac Digital is a smart, motorized lifting tool that automatically maintains suction via a built-in electric pump, delivering dependable grip and effortless control on every lift, according to the company. Despite its compact form, it holds up to 330 pounds. A clear digital display provides real-time pressure readings in psi and bar, along with estimated weight capacity in pounds or kilograms, making it a flexible solution for glaziers and professionals across a wide range of applications. 

Grabo U-Hoist is a strong, rigid metal bar that accommodates up to four Grabo tools via evenly distributed hooks. Built for crane and forklift lifts, the U-Hoist keeps large, heavy slabs perfectly flat during the lift, preventing warping, cracking or bending. 

The full line of Grabo electric vacuum lifters and accessories are available now through authorized dealers and online.

<p>The post Grabo expands lineup with Ottovac Digital and U-Hoist tools for heavy-duty lifting first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

“Endarra 81 represents exactly the kind of forward thinking innovation that defines OSU Ag Research. Our turfgrass team continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, not only strengthening the economic vitality of Oklahoma’s green industries but also addressing one of the most urgent challenges facing communities across the country — water conservation,” said Scott Senseman, associate vice president of OSU Ag Research.  

Indarra is a Basque word meaning strength, and specific regions in Spain and France use the name Endara, meaning endurance. The Spanish word tierra means terrain, and the 81 represents the last two digits in the experimental ID, OSU2081, the name OSU’s turfgrass team knew and used for years.  

The new variety is built on strong drought resistance and water conservation, and the endurance of OSU’s turfgrass team over 11 years of research brought the variety to life, according to the university.

“Patience is important for many things, especially for plant breeding,” said Yanqi Wu, a Regents professor in plant breeding and genetics in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. “We developed the parents, then we made crosses, did initial screenings, worked in the greenhouses and then went out into the field for evaluations. It all took time.” 

OSU’s premier Bermudagrass is ideal for residential lawns, according to the team.

“Endarra 81 shows how strategic, science-driven plant breeding can deliver real solutions for homeowners, industry partners and states where every gallon of water matters. This is the kind of impact we strive for: research that improves lives and safeguards natural resources for the future,” Senseman said. 

Drought resistance is the crowning achievement of Endarra 81.  

“Endarra 81 is the most drought-resistant grass available in the market,” said Mingying Xiang, an assistant professor and OSU Extension turf specialist in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.  

That exceptional drought resistance starts in the roots. Endarra 81 has a dense root network full of thicker and finer roots. The fatter roots bury deep into the soil, while the finer roots capture water in the soil particles. It’s an essential combination that was purposefully developed for this variety.  

“These roots can go deep into the soil, tap into more water, allowing us to conserve irrigation water,” Wu said.  

Beyond drought resistance, Endarra 81 has a darker color than most Bermudagrasses, sustaining its color later in the season than other varieties, according to the university. It also springs up earlier in the year, maintaining good quality for most of the calendar year.  

Endarra 81 has shown strong resistance to leaf spot, a notorious disease in Bermudagrasses, which causes brown, black or tan lesions on blades of grass. Endarra 81 also produces very few seedheads — better than some industry standard varieties.  

“We’re not focused on only one trait,” Xiang said. “Normally, we will balance multiple traits to make it a good grass.”

Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Special Crop Research Initiative, the U.S. Golf Association, the Meibergen Family Professorship and OSU Ag Research contributed to the development of Endarra 81.

After more than a decade of work, Endarra 81 made its way to sod farms. Sod Production Services is the licensing agent of Endarra 81. It is currently grown at sod farms in Oklahoma, California, Texas, Georgia and Virginia and is expected to be more widely available to homeowners in 2027. 

Because it cannot make viable seed, the grass is established vegetatively using sod. No seeds can be purchased. Consumers wanting Endarra 81 will need to buy it from a sod farm.  

<p>The post Oklahoma State University unveils new drought resistant Bermudagrass variety first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

We often fall into the trap of overcomplicating our business goals. We devise elaborate strategic plans. We’re proud of our 10-year, five-year, three-year and one-year plans. We layer on “rocks” every quarter. We bury our people in goals. And then we wonder why nobody can breathe. Complexity is our enemy. Simplicity is our friend. 

Earlier in my career, my company hired an up-and-coming business coach to work with our leadership team. His name was Gino Wickman (the Entrepreneurial Operating System, EOS, guy). At our off-site meeting in northern Michigan, Wickman led us through an exercise that completely changed my approach to leadership. 

During this exercise, my team lovingly informed me that I was making their lives miserable because I had the mistaken belief that my superpower was to make things complex. I over-engineered everything I touched because it fed my ego. They pointed this out to me. Lovingly. 

It hurt. But they were right. And then I discovered how freeing it was to not carry that burden around any longer. I was free to leave things alone. Or to put my energy into simplifying things. I quickly discovered that making things simple is much more difficult than making things complicated. This gave me a new challenge: make things simple, elegant and intuitive.  

Back to “grow maintenance” … I was recently invited to speak at GROW! 2026. If you’re not familiar, this is the annual conference put on by Marty Grunder with Grunder Landscaping Co. and The Grow Group that attracts more than 1,000 other green industry professionals. This year’s conference took place in Dallas and featured a tour of Complete Landsculpture, an award-winning, full-service landscape company.  

If you visit the company’s website, you’ll see a beautiful backyard oasis at what looks like a resort. This is the backyard of one of the owners. In other words, the company is doing quite well. And yet, this company invited more than 1,000 people to visit them in person. They shared with us what was working and what wasn’t. They humbly acknowledged that they had things to work on. And they all shared a common goal for 2026: Grow maintenance. Powerful. Simple. Elegant. Intuitive. 

Why grow maintenance? It depends on your perspective. It depends on your role in the company. An owner may wish to drive up the business value for succession planning purposes. A landscape designer may be focused on the long-term success of an installation that they designed.

A maintenance production manager may be motivated by providing more career opportunities for the maintenance team. The Complete Landsculpture team each had their own unique way of explaining the goal. 

The idea that a singular goal is powerful is nothing new. In fact, Gary Keller and Jay Papasan wrote a bestselling book on this exact idea, “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.”

As we consider our business goals or our succession plans, what is that singular goal? What is the one thing that will make the most impact? Do you know? Does your team know? 

I guarantee you that every employee of Complete Landsculpture knows what the company’s goal is. That’s right. Grow maintenance. 

Now go forth. 

<p>The post Why “grow maintenance” works first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

I’m not from Texas, but I have a special bond with the state. My wife grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, so for the last 20-plus years, our family has made the drive from Lawrence, Kan., to McAllen or South Padre Island to visit her late father and his wife. It’s a 15-hour drive, so we’ve made frequent overnight stops in Dallas, Waco, Austin and San Antonio. 

A Texas flag proudly flies in the Hall of Justice, my garage-turned-sports-bar. When I’m grilling, I’m probably in a “Come and Take It” apron I bought at Buc-ee’s, as I remember the Alamo.

My 2026 got off to a quick start, with back-to-back trips to the Lone Star State. First, it was the Executive Retreat, hosted by Jeffrey Scott in Fort Worth. Then, three weeks later, I was in Dallas at GROW! 2026, hosted by The Grow Group. Both events had many friendly, familiar faces and tons of highlights. My notebook was overwhelmed with cat-scratches of great sound bites and nuggets for readers of LM.

At the Executive Retreat, Jeffrey Scott advised attendees that it was time to reset and look forward. “What lessons can we learn from 2025? You have to say OK, here is where I should have turned left instead of right. That’s behind you. You have to look ahead.”

Karen Siciliano, former president of Siciliano Landscape, now retired, stood out as a speaker. Her one-hour presentation lasted a little more than 30 minutes, then she opened it up for a question-and-answer session. Her honesty and directness made her stand out. She told one attendee that she realizes now, in hindsight, that she tried too hard to please her famous clients. She told another person that her most valuable advice was to “remove the impediments to your growth to achieve success for you and your clients.” 

Three weeks later, I was in Big D for GROW! 2026, which was held at Complete Landsculpture. Regular readers of LM will recognize Chris Strempek, CEO and founder, and Gene Freeman, vice president, of Complete — they’re fun semi-regulars on our LM Gallery page (and they’re back there again this month!) and they were also featured on our cover in a tumultuous 2020. 

This GROW! was especially noteworthy because it was the first GROW! to feature a repeat host. Ten years ago, Chris and Gene opened the doors to attendees from around the country, not quite knowing exactly what they were getting themselves into. In 2016, the event welcomed 250 attendees to a modest hotel and a modest Complete Landscuplture. In 2026, more than 1,000 attendees stayed at the downtown Hyatt Regency Dallas and visited a Complete Landsculpture that had tripled in size (No. 130 on the 2025 LM150 list of largest landscape and lawn care companies in the industry, with $27.5 million in revenue).

I asked Marty Grunder, CEO of the Grow Group and founder of Grunder Landscaping Co., about the journey Complete Landsculpture has been on, and he told me that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

“(For Complete Landsculpture) it’s been a lot of blocking and tackling, it’s been a lot of hustling, it’s been a lot of doing what they said they were going to do and going out and getting it,” Grunder told me. “If you hustle, you get back to people, you go for it, you’re nice to your people, you’re a leader … it makes the organization better. They’re bigger, but a lot of the same principles they used to start the business, they’re using them today. “

Gene was on stage when he pondered how things had changed over the last 10 years for their business. He had one regret — he wished he could have hosted GROW! 20 years ago to better jumpstart the business.

“For the young entrepreneurs here, the access you have today, that we didn’t have back then, to education and a peer network is priceless,” he said. “I wish we could have had all this 20 years ago. If we had access to this information, this knowledge base back then? We’d be twice as big as we are today.”

They say everything is bigger in Texas. I say everything is bigger — including the opportunity — in this great industry we serve. 

<p>The post Seth’s Cut: Deep in my heart, Texas first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>

PFAS compounds have been around since the 1940s and are now found everywhere in the environment. Some common PFAS compounds you may recognize are surfactants such as Teflon and firefighting foam.

There is no agreement on an exact definition of what constitutes a PFAS compound, nor is there agreement on how many there are. The Environmental Protection Agency says, based on the definition they have established, that there are 14,735 compounds. However, another database using a broader definition lists 7 million different PFAS compounds.

You may have heard of PFAS being referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down rapidly in the environment. Some PFAS compounds have been shown to have detrimental effects on human health and the environment, while others do not. Most PFAS compounds have never been through a thorough human and environmental risk review, as is the case with pesticides regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Allow me to illustrate how the PFAS issue can muddy the waters. In 2019, there was an outbreak of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Massachusetts that resulted in 17 human cases and seven deaths. EEE is one of the arboviral diseases transmitted by infected mosquitoes and attacks the central nervous system of humans and horses.

The 2019 outbreak in Massachusetts required widespread aerial spraying of swampy areas that had an abundance of infected mosquitoes. This spraying was done according to a long-standing plan the state had developed to deal with similiar situations.

And as you can probably guess, although there had been deaths, there were people who opposed the spraying. The opposition was such that the legislature passed a bill into law creating a commission to study the problem called “The Mosquito Control for the Twenty-First Century Task Force.” 

When I read the bill, I noticed that there wasn’t anyone earmarked to represent professional pesticide applicators on this task force. The legislature thought that was a great idea and amended the bill. Not long afterwards, I got a call that the professional pesticide applicator being appointed to the task force was me.

The task force met twice a month virtually since it was during the pandemic, and the dynamics of the group never really developed because we never met face-to-face. This became problematic when the day before a scheduled meeting, a story ran in The Boston Globe proclaiming “Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in pesticide used on millions of Mass. acres when spraying for mosquitoes.” 

When the task force meeting convened the next day, some members weren’t interested in learning which of the 14,735 PFAS compounds were found, how much was found, if the PFAS was part of the active ingredient used or how the PFAS actually got there. No, they immediately zeroed in on the complaint that the state was spraying for mosquitoes and weaponized the issue to achieve their goal of not allowing the state to control mosquitoes.

As it turned out, there was no PFAS in the active ingredient — it was discovered that the PFAS had leached from the treated inside surface of the pesticide container — and the PFAS that was applied was such a small amount that it was below levels found in the environment already.

This incident foreshadowed future activism, but weaponizing PFAS is problematic. Because PFAS comprises thousands of compounds with unique toxicological profiles, a one-size-fits-all strategy fails. Demonizing all PFAS without differentiating between them robs us of the utility of those PFAS compounds that would pass a risk assessment. Second, other products that may have PFAS as a contaminant get swept up in the maelstrom. 

My gut tells me that there’s a pathway to remediating PFAS contamination by applying biosolids to lawns and landscapes. We see a great deal of research that indicates that plants have the capability to phytoremediate toxic compounds. We also know that soils can serve as a sink for certain contaminants as well. 

<p>The post A common-sense approach to PFAS regulation first appeared on Landscape Management.</p>