Landscape Maintenance

The City of Laguna Woods maintains landscaping along El Toro Road, Moulton Parkway, Ridge Route Drive, and Santa Maria Avenue, as well as within “A Place for Paws” Dog Park, City Centre Park, Woods End Wilderness Park, and the City Hall Complex. The City of Laguna Woods does not maintain landscaping within the private community of Laguna Woods Village or along streets in the City of Laguna Hills (including Avenida de la Carlota, Laguna Hills Drive, and Paseo de Valencia).

• City of Laguna Woods-maintained Landscape Areas Map – under the “Infrastructure Maps” tab in the Layers List

Landscape Maintenance Practices

The City of Laguna Woods is committed to maintaining its public street medians, parkways, parks, and other landscape areas in a high-quality and environmentally conscious manner. On November 19, 2018, the City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive “Weed Control and Integrated Pesticide Management Policy,” in part, to limit the City of Laguna Woods’ already minimal use of pesticides, eliminate the use of gas-powered blowers, and dramatically reduce the use of non-gas-powered blowers. Implementation of the landscape maintenance practices contained in the Weed Control and Integrated Pesticide Management Policy began on December 20, 2018 and continues to this day.

Notable landscape maintenance practices include:

• Prioritization of organic pesticides. When manual, mechanical, and other non-chemical control methods prove insufficient, the use of pesticides that meet organic criteria established by the United States Department of Agriculture are prioritized over all others. No pesticides of any kind are used in “A Place for Paws” Dog Park or its parking lot.
• Prohibition of the use of glyphosate and pesticides containing glyphosate. Glyphosate has been linked to a variety of health issues and is the active ingredient in Roundup®, a brand name herbicide.
• Prohibition of the use of neonicotinoids and pesticides containing neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticide that has been linked to declines in bee populations and pollination.
• Prohibition of the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides have longer half-lives than other rodenticides, can cause sublethal effects in wildlife, and are toxic to many birds and mammals.
• Prohibition of the use of gas-powered blowers. Gas-powered blowers, which generally result in higher greenhouse gas emissions and louder noise than electric-powered blowers, are not used to maintain any landscape areas, sidewalks, or parking lots.
• Reduction of the use of non-gas-powered blowers. Electric-powered blowers are only used to maintain parking lots during lower-traffic weekday hours; leaf litter and debris in all other areas are raked, swept, or vacuumed as needed.

The Weed Control and Integrated Pesticide Management Policy applies only to landscape areas that are maintained by the City of Laguna Woods; landscape areas that are located within the private gated community of Laguna Woods Village or elsewhere on private property are not subject to its provisions.

State law prohibits the City of Laguna Woods from regulating the use of pesticides on private property.