Should the UK ban glyphosate use?
As part of the Great Big Green Week (1) Andrew recently posted a view on his perspective on banning harmful glyphosates and asked if readers would consider signing the petition started by Garden Organic to ban their use in the UK. We were surprised by the very strong opinions from gardeners and designers that we received in favour of keepingglyphosates in use for another 15 years when their licensing comes up for renewal in late 2026.
So here Andrew shares why he has come to his conclusion that they should be banned in the UK and especially in our gardens with some reference links to the places that he has used to form his opinion over the years.
Adding to the debate
Glyphosate use is a subject that I have been following for decades now. My perspective probably comes more from ornamental horticulture than agriculture but there is a crossover in that I am a supporter of Garden Organic when it comes to managing my own allotment. My reading and understanding are from a relatively wide range of scientific papers and articles and in recent years I have read quite a bit on the subject through https://www.sciencedirect.com and this is probably where any international perspective comes from, especially on the health impacts on humans. Where though I feel that I can be most effective is from an understanding about the UK’s position and trying to influence attitudes to glyphosate use here.
Use in horticulture
In horticulture it is my biggest concern, and I can see no justification for, using glyphosate to ‘clean up’ a site before planting ornamental plants. I have come to understand that there are a good many big name designers that do this before planting, especially when broadcasting seed over large areas for ornamental meadows. I believe we should have some balance here and recognise that it’s not essential to kill almost all types of plants, weeds and grasses as well as using something that is toxic to humans and animals, just to have something nice to look at.
Glyphosate targets specific soil bacteria and microorganisms that share the same biological pathway as plants and some research also reports issues from off-target drift damage, environmental persistence from regular use. All to have an aesthetically nice-looking planting. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/5/1014
I have experienced invasive plants in my own allotment where I have wanted to remove invasive weeds such as Equisetum arvense, commonly known as mare’s tail. I have successfully managed it through methods other than spraying. Before the first growing season I physically removed as much as I could from the site and now, in the fourth season, I regularly weed but mare’s tail is rare. The main challenge I have is from neighbouring plots that do not manage mares tail and so it self-seeds to my plot, though I would judge I have been 98% successful in removing it through organic methods. To balance that against the herbicide alternative on a site where I am growing edibles, and even with the eventual removal of glyphosate in the soil, is I believe worth my work to eradicate the mares tail organically.
Human impacts
There are of course genetically modified crops that are engineered to be ‘roundup ready’ which allows farmers to spray entire fields to kill weeds whilst the crop survives.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2190-4715-24-24 I understand that it has an impact on food production but I think that this a much broader subject than just about the use of herbicides and one that I suspect will never be resolved whilst we have a growing global population.
If you are interested, this is a useful article on human health effects looking at several sources https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11445186/
Wildlife impacts
There are no exact figures for the number of pollinators that are killed by glyphosate in this way but research shows it will destroy habitat and directly threaten bee health, leaving them vulnerable to pathogens, impaired navigation, landscape level starvation through reductions in nectar and pollen sources with mortality of for example bumblebees exposed in a range of 30-94%. Over time that has meant that pollinator populations are down year on year and some believe that it has contributed to a loss of biodiversity which in the UK is 50% over the past 50 years. A useful research study here — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6835870/andhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721004654
What most influences me is this impact on wildlife and the arrogance that as humans we can somehow just watch nature from the sidelines. We’re part of nature; we’re also destroying it at an alarming rate and so some respect for wildlife is required. Whether you’re growing food or planting ornamentals.
Licensing of glyphosate
Regarding the licensing of glyphosate and the extension of that license for 15 years later this year, I don’t understand the all or nothing approach. At the minimum we should ban it at a gardening level. We managed to do this in 2003 through EU legislation on products that continued to be used commercially so it can be done. Although those bans are now widespread at all levels since 2013 because the damage was too great commercially as well. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/creosote-and-telegraph-poles/
Summary
The above is just the tip of a reading iceberg throughout my career but at a very simple level I have never felt the need to specify the use glyphosate in that career both on private and public projects. That’s what I keep coming back to. If I’ve not needed it why would I need it now and why do other designers use it.
Notes
- Great Big Green Week is led by The Climate Coalition, the UK’s biggest group of organisations and communities protecting what we love from the impacts of a changing climate and nature loss. With more than 100 member organisations including Save the Children, Surfers Against Sewage, Black to Nature, Friends of the Earth, The Woodland Trist, the National Trust, Islamic Relief, Oxfam and WWF, it represents 20 million supporters across the UK.