What Landscape Crews Spray: Glyphosate Leads California’s Totals
Key result: Landscape maintenance businesses reported 1,804,611 pesticide applications in California in 2023, using 1.46 million pounds of active ingredients. Glyphosate made 31.2 percent of the pounds and herbicides 53.8 percent. By applications, rodent baits stand out: 335,118 bait applications, about 19 percent of all applications.
The other licensed pesticide trade
Businesses that apply pesticides for hire in California must report their use to the state, landscape maintenance businesses as well as structural pest control businesses. Their reports are filed under site code 30, landscape maintenance. Our earlier reports covered the structural side, from structural pesticide use to the most used pest control products. This report covers the landscape side for 2022 and 2023.
Weedkillers by weight
| Active ingredient | Type | Pounds, 2023 | Applications, 2023 | Pounds, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyphosate, isopropylamine salt | Herbicide | 315,232 | 236,160 | 269,342 |
| Glyphosate, potassium salt | Herbicide | 113,413 | 94,934 | 116,661 |
| Mineral oil | Oil (insects and disease) | 90,468 | 17,654 | 58,204 |
| Chlorothalonil | Fungicide | 75,727 | 3,396 | 75,877 |
| Potassium phosphite | Fungicide | 73,382 | 15,434 | 82,204 |
| Carbon dioxide | Other | 61,177 | 578 | 3,276 |
| Prodiamine | Herbicide | 48,817 | 25,644 | 39,266 |
| Copper sulfate | Fungicide or algaecide | 40,007 | 1,052 | 47,756 |
| Glufosinate-ammonium | Herbicide | 39,008 | 78,751 | 30,121 |
| Diquat dibromide | Herbicide | 34,838 | 52,892 | 34,688 |
Source: California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Use Reports, 2022 and 2023, site code 30 (landscape maintenance). Pounds of active ingredient. Types assigned by the author. Author calculation.
What it means. Glyphosate, in its isopropylamine, potassium and monoammonium salts, made 454,363 of the 1,457,385 pounds applied in landscape maintenance in 2023, 31.2 percent. Glufosinate-ammonium and diquat, two other non-selective herbicides, made a further 5.1 percent together. Fungicides, algaecides and disinfectants were a quarter of the weight, led by chlorothalonil and potassium phosphite. Insecticides were 6.9 percent; mineral oil, used against insects and plant disease, 6.2 percent.
What limits it. Pounds favour products applied at high rates. Carbon dioxide rose from about 3,300 pounds in 2022 to 61,177 in 2023, and we do not know which products or uses account for the change, so we list it separately.
Gophers by count
What it means. Counting applications instead of pounds changes the picture. Rodenticides were 0.5 percent of the weight but appeared in 335,118 bait applications, 18.6 percent of all landscape applications. Diphacinone was the third most applied active ingredient and strychnine the fourth. University of California pest management guidelines describe strychnine-treated grain as “the most effective type of baits used for pocket gopher control”, placed in burrow systems because above-ground application is illegal. In 2023 landscape maintenance made 84.8 percent of all reported strychnine applications in California, according to our analysis of rodenticide use by sector. Bifenthrin, the leading structural pest control insecticide, was the second most applied active ingredient in landscape maintenance, with 175,396 applications, against 3.5 million in structural pest control.
What limits it. An application of a product containing several active ingredients, such as a three-way broadleaf herbicide, counts once for each, so these counts cannot be summed. In 2023, 82,640 applications listed an active ingredient as confidential.
Where it is applied
The four largest Southern California counties, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Orange, made 37.3 percent of landscape maintenance pounds in 2023. Los Angeles alone made 161,458 pounds, 11.1 percent. Pounds by county for both years are in the second CSV.
One year to the next
Landscape maintenance pounds rose 13.5 percent from 2022 to 2023, from 1,283,949 to 1,457,385, and applications 7.7 percent, from 1,674,946 to 1,804,611. Two years are not a trend; the rise in pounds is partly carbon dioxide and mineral oil.
Checks
1. Application counts
Method. Total applications are counted once per report, from the application count field, so a report listing several active ingredients is not counted several times.
2. Classification
Method. Each active ingredient was assigned a type by name; ingredients not matched are shown as other, 5.0 percent of 2023 pounds. Every ingredient and its type is in the CSV.
Download the data
The tables in this report are published as CSV files under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You may republish, remix and build on them, including commercially, with attribution to The Pest Control Brief and a link to this page.
- Landscape maintenance pesticide pounds and applications by active ingredient and type, California, 2022 and 2023 (CSV, 485 rows)
- Landscape maintenance pesticide pounds by county, 2022 and 2023 (CSV, 57 rows)
How to cite this report
The Pest Control Brief, “What Landscape Crews Spray in California: Glyphosate Is 31 Percent of the Pounds, Rodent Baits One Application in Five”, 2 October 2026. https://thepestcontrolbrief.com/landscape-pesticide-use-california/
References
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Pesticide Use Report annual archives for 2022 and 2023. files.cdpr.ca.gov/pub/outgoing/pur_archives/. Accessed 2 October 2026.
- University of California Statewide IPM Program. Pest Notes: Pocket Gophers, publication 7433. ipm.ucanr.edu pocket gophers. Accessed 5 October 2026.
How the figures were built
Scope. Every 2022 and 2023 Pesticide Use Report record with site code 30, landscape maintenance.
Measures. Pounds of active ingredient and reported applications.
Limitations. Homeowners’ own use is not reported. Types assigned by the author. Confidential active ingredients are counted in applications but not named.
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.
For reporters
Most quotable statistics
- Landscape maintenance businesses reported 1,804,611 pesticide applications in California in 2023.
- Glyphosate made 31.2 percent of the 1.46 million pounds they applied.
- Herbicides made 53.8 percent of landscape pounds.
- Rodent baits made about one in five landscape applications, 335,118.
- Landscape maintenance made 84.8 percent of California’s strychnine applications.
Press summary
Glyphosate is still the backbone of professional landscape weed control in California, according to an analysis of state pesticide use reports by The Pest Control Brief. Landscape maintenance businesses applied 1.46 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients in 2023, 31 percent of it glyphosate, in 1.8 million applications. Rodent baits made about one application in five, and landscapers made 85 percent of the state’s strychnine applications.
Headlines editors could use
- Glyphosate is a third of what California landscapers spray
- One in five landscape pesticide jobs is a rodent bait
- What your landscaper is spraying, by the numbers
Questions
What pesticides do landscapers use most?
By weight, glyphosate: 31.2 percent of landscape maintenance pounds in California in 2023. By applications, glyphosate, bifenthrin and the rodenticide diphacinone.
Do landscapers still use glyphosate?
Yes. Landscape maintenance businesses applied 454,363 pounds of glyphosate in California in 2023, in its three salt forms.
How many landscape pesticide applications are there in California?
1,804,611 reported in 2023, up from 1,674,946 in 2022.
Do landscapers use rat and gopher poison?
Yes: 335,118 rodenticide bait applications in 2023, about one in five landscape applications, including 97,912 strychnine applications.
Is homeowner weedkiller use included?
No. Only use by businesses and agencies is reported.
