The term pesticide includes all herbicides,insecticides, and fungicides.

READ and FOLLOW the label instruc-tions exactly as written on the pesticidecontainer.This is the most important BMP when using pesticides. The label for a pesticide provides the legal requirements for use of that pesticide.

Use the safety equipment recommendedon the label when preparing and applying a pesticide.The recommendations may include chemical resistant gloves andfootware, a long-sleeved shirt, long trousers, and eye protection.When through applying a pesticide, remove contaminated cloth-ing and shower or wash thoroughly using soap.

Launder contam-inated clothing separately from family laundry.Before applying pesticides, be sure lawndamage is being caused by pests and isnot the result of neglected cultural prac-tices.Environmentally sound lawn care practices reduce the need forpesticides by using alternative management practices, either nat-ural or mechanical.

Calibrate the application equipment toassure that the prescribed amount of agiven pesticide will be applied to a givenarea.Prepare only the amount of mixture required to treat a givenarea when a pesticide is applied in a diluted form.

Spot treat problem areas rather than the whole lawn.