New, free Grow Smart, Grow Safe® app!

Now there is an easy way for consumers throughout the Pacific Northwest to choose lawn and garden products that are safer for people, pets and the environment: The Grow Smart, Grow Safe® app.

More than 1000 yard and garden products are rated low, medium or high hazard to help shoppers make smart choices. Take this tool to the store or out to the garage to find out how your favorite lawn and garden products rate. The app also offers tips on gardening without weed and bug killers. Download the app for free at the iTunes App Store.

King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, Portland Metro and Thurston County Public Health and Social Services partnered to develop the app to provide reliable, science-based information to Northwest gardeners. The information is also available at www.GrowSmartGrowSafe.org.

Products listed in Grow Smart, Grow Safe® are commonly available at retail outlets, and are registered for home use by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. It’s also been approved for use by Washington and Oregon Master Gardeners.

The science behind the app was developed by Thurston County and is used in our county’s pest control prescriptions (fact sheets). Prescriptions are available for controlling common garden pests like slugs, Himalayan blackberry, and Scotch broom, as well as for all County listed noxious weeds. Each prescription provides non-chemical control strategies; chemical solutions are provided as a last resort. Prescriptions and detailed ratings of all chemicals presented in the Grow Smart, Grow Safe® app are available our Integrated Pest Management web pages. 

For more information call 360-867-2586.