Herbicide-Free School Grounds Work
Herbicide-free poison ivy removal for Massachusetts schools, camps & farms.
Call or text (617) 618-8928I don't apply pesticides or herbicides. For schools and camps, that means the work is structured differently from a pesticide application: manual root removal, photo documentation, and coordination with your facilities, farm, or IPM contact. Your school should confirm its own logging and notification obligations with its IPM coordinator or compliance advisor.
Request a Site Visit & Proposal§ Quick Intake · Facilities & Faculty
§ 01 · M.G.L. c. 132B Exemption
The administrative burden of a single herbicide application.
Under the Massachusetts Children and Families Protection Act (CFPA) and state regulations (M.G.L. c. 132B and 333 CMR 14.00), a single outdoor herbicide application on school grounds triggers a significant administrative cascade overseen by MDAR.
This includes issuing a Standard Written Notification (SWN) to all parents 48 hours in advance, posting yellow warning signage for 72+ hours, enforcing an 8-hour student keep-off rule, and legally retaining the application record for five years.
Because I hand-pull, there's no pesticide application from Weston Ivy League. Your IPM coordinator can confirm how your school logs non-pesticide grounds work.
The letter that never goes home.
For a head of school, the c. 132B cascade is more than paperwork. A single herbicide application means a formal written notification to every parent 48 hours before the sprayer arrives, warning signage on the grounds for three days, and an eight-hour keep-off for students. Hand-pulling means none of that reaches a parent's inbox. The work is completed, documented, and filed, and the only communication your families receive about it is the one you choose to send.
Administrative triggers avoided
- Parent notice
- Standard Written Notification issued 48 hours in advance
- Posting
- Yellow warning signage maintained for 72+ hours
- Access
- 8-hour student keep-off interval after application
- Retention
- Application record retained for five years
§ 02 · The Physical Hazard
Sprayed & Dead Vines Are Still Dangerous.
Spraying can kill the plant, but it doesn't physically remove urushiol-bearing vines, stems, and roots from fences, stone walls, trails, or play edges. I hand-pull the identified plant material in the approved work zones, bag it, haul it off-site, and document what was removed. When I leave, the identified plant material in the approved work zones has been hand-pulled, bagged, hauled off-site, and documented.
Fig. 1 — Road edge, before and after a single visit. Manual root removal, no chemicals applied.
§ 03 · Farms & Conservation Properties
Removal that fits organic management.
For certified-organic and organically managed farms, a synthetic herbicide application is not an option on the land you grow on. Hand removal is. I extract poison ivy physically, roots included, with nothing applied to soil or crops, and the debris leaves the property the same day. Your certifier or land manager confirms how the work is logged; from my side there is nothing to disclose, because nothing was applied.
The farm zones that matter most are the ones where the public stands: farm stands and CSA pickup areas, children's program and camp spaces, volunteer beds, trail edges, pasture fence lines, and parking margins. Volunteers weeding by hand are the easiest people on any property to expose. I clear the zones where hands and ankles actually go, document the work with before-and-after photographs, and leave a record your board or land trust can file.
Many community farms operate on town or conservation land where management agreements restrict chemical use regardless of certification. Hand-pulling fits inside those agreements. Where a zone touches a wetland buffer or a conservation restriction, I scope the work with your team before it begins and avoid work that requires approvals I don't have.
§ 04 · Engagement
What happens after you call.
Worker vetting: Weston Ivy League is a one-person, owner-operated business. No subcontractors. No seasonal crews. I handle the survey, the proposal, the pulling, the bagging, and the final walkthrough personally — start to finish.
Campus Work Record
Step 01
Walk the grounds
I walk the campus with your head of school, business office, or facilities director, so whoever holds the decision sees the priority zones firsthand.
Step 02
Document
I photograph and map the targeted areas to establish a baseline.
Step 03
Removal
Manual root removal during an agreed window — usually summer break, school vacations, or weekends. Zero herbicides. Zero spray equipment on campus.
Step 04
Documentation
Post-job written summary with before-and-after photographs, a record of pulled vines hauled off, and recommended follow-up schedule for regrowth checks.
§ 05 · Targeted Removal
Targeted removal where students play, learn, walk, and gather.
For broad-acre clearing or wetland buffer work, I coordinate with your existing landscape contractor. My focus is narrower and more precise: careful hand-removal in the high-contact areas where students play, learn, walk, gather, and wait.
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Playground Perimeters
Around mulch beds, equipment edges, fences, and shaded borders.
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Outdoor Classrooms
Learning gardens, seating circles, woodland classrooms, and nature-study areas.
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School Gardens
Raised beds, pollinator gardens, greenhouse edges, and student-maintained plots.
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Athletic Field Edges
Sidelines, ball-retrieval zones, spectator edges, and wooded margins.
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Trails & Trailheads
Cross-country routes, nature trails, access points, and wooded path edges.
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Drop-Off & Pickup Zones
Carline edges, waiting areas, walkways, and parent pickup borders.
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Fences, Walls & Property Edges
Stone walls, perimeter fencing, service paths, and back-of-campus borders.
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Camp & Activity Areas
Summer program zones, ropes-course edges, gathering areas, and shaded play spaces.
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Farm Stands & Pickup Areas
Stand surrounds, CSA pickup zones, queue lines, and parking edges.
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Field Edges & Hedgerows
Bed margins, volunteer areas, pasture fence lines, and hedgerow bases.
§ 06 · Vendor Compliance
Documentation for your risk-management file.
Operating facts your business office needs on file before a purchase order can be cut.
Local & Vetted
Based in Weston. Owner-operated end to end. I can complete required CORI/SORI screening before campus work begins.
Fully Insured
Fully Insured. Carrying $3M in Commercial General Liability. Certificate of Insurance, Additional Insured endorsements, Waiver of Subrogation, and W-9 available upon request.
Wetlands-Sensitive Scoping
For wetlands buffer or conservation-sensitive areas, I scope the work with your facilities team before removal begins and avoid work that requires approvals I don't have.
Audit-Ready Documentation
You receive a before-and-after photographic record for your insurance file. If a question comes up later, you have before-and-after documentation showing what was identified, what was removed, and which zones were cleared.
§ 07 · Facilities Q&A
Common facilities questions.
Q.
Do you use herbicides?
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Do you use herbicides?
No. I don't apply herbicides. My school work is manual identification, hand-pulling, bagging, removal, and documentation.
Q.
Does this count as a pesticide application under Massachusetts law?
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Does this count as a pesticide application under Massachusetts law?
Most landscapers use herbicides, which trigger the M.G.L. c. 132B notification cascade. I work alongside your existing grounds team to provide the documented, herbicide-free hand-pulling they're not set up to do.
Q.
Is removal permanent?
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Is removal permanent?
No responsible poison ivy company should promise permanent eradication. Birds can reseed poison ivy. The goal is to remove existing plant material from high-contact areas and manage regrowth through follow-up checks.
Q.
Can you work while school is in session?
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Can you work while school is in session?
Because hand-pulling carries no pesticide re-entry interval, I can safely clear zones without disrupting academic schedules. For active athletic windows, I work after hours or on weekends.
Q.
What is included in the post-job documentation?
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What is included in the post-job documentation?
A written summary, before-and-after photographs of each zone, a record of the pulled vines hauled off, and a recommended follow-up schedule.
Q.
What happens if a root regrows?
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What happens if a root regrows?
Poison ivy has complex, fragile lateral root systems. While physical excavation is highly effective, native ecosystems are dynamic. I offer optional 60- or 90-day follow-up sweeps to inspect previously cleared zones and hand-pull any latent regrowth.
Q.
We're certified organic. Does your work affect our certification?
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We're certified organic. Does your work affect our certification?
No products are applied. The work is physical extraction and off-site disposal, which is consistent with organic management. How you log grounds work is between you and your certifier; there is no application to report.
Q.
Can you work around active growing beds?
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Can you work around active growing beds?
Yes. Hand extraction is precise enough to work along bed edges, fence lines, and hedgerows without disturbing crops. Where a root runs under something I can't disturb, I document it and tell you plainly what was left and why.
§ 08 · Book a Site Walk
Request a school site walk.
The window for pre-season surveying is short. Fill out the form below to request a site walk with your facilities team.
Disclaimer
Based in Weston, Massachusetts. Serving campuses in Weston, Wayland, Wellesley, Lincoln, Newton, Sudbury, Concord, and Lexington, and surrounding MetroWest towns for institutional work. This page is not legal advice. Schools should consult their IPM coordinator or compliance advisor, and farms their certifier or land manager, for requirements specific to their operation.