Ep. 571 - Pesticides In Your Garden
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2026
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So many of us garden to attract wildlife. Adding native plants to support bees, butterflies, birds, and beyond is a fulfilling and noble cause but how can we be sure we aren't bringing unwanted pesticides home with us from plant nurseries? This can be a challenge considering the role pesticides play in so many nursery and agricultural settings. We don't have to despair though! People like Sharon Selvaggio of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation are both putting in the effort to research this issue and also developing resources to help gardeners make better, more ecologically sound choices. Join us for a deep and nuanced dive into the world of pesticides, nurseries, and gardening for wildlife. This episode was produced in part by Sascha, Kim, Tanya, Neil, Matthew, April, Dana, Lilith, Sanza, Eva, Yellowroot, Wisewren, Nadia, Heidi, Blake, Josh, Laure, R.J., Carly, Lucia, Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants. |
| 0:04.4 | And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible. |
| 0:08.9 | One of the best ways to help keep In Defensive Plants up and running is to become a patron over at patreon.com |
| 0:14.0 | slash In Defensive Plants. |
| 0:15.8 | In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate |
| 0:20.2 | podcasts. It explores |
| 0:21.5 | a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage to growing native |
| 0:26.1 | plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much more. It's a heck of a lot of fun. |
| 0:32.2 | We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you. So come on and join the Patreon over |
| 0:36.7 | at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? |
| 0:54.9 | Do you like gardening? Do you especially like gardening with wildlife in mind, benefiting pollinators, |
| 0:59.5 | birds, bees, everything in between? How do you make sure that the plants you're bringing into your |
| 1:03.8 | home are safe for them? I mean free of things like pesticides. It's actually a much more difficult |
| 1:09.3 | and nuanced conversation than you might think. But if we want to maximize our benefit for what our gardens can do for local ecology, we have to keep these things in mind. |
| 1:17.8 | Joining us to talk about this is Sharon Silvaggio of the Xercese Society, and she and her colleagues are putting in so much effort to try to understand this issue of pesticides in horticulture and how we can do better. |
| 1:28.8 | She's got a lot of really uplifting statistics to share with you, and we can make it even better |
| 1:32.9 | by having conversations like this. So I don't want to keep you from it any longer. Let's just jump |
| 1:36.8 | right into it. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Sharon Salvaggio. I hope you enjoy. |
| 1:56.2 | Yeah. I hope you enjoy. All right. |
| 1:56.7 | Sharon Silvaggio, welcome to the podcast. |
| 1:58.7 | It is so good to have you here. |
| 2:00.1 | I can't wait to pick your brain today, but first, let's start with an introduction. Tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what it is you do. |
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