The Town of Okotoks makes sure residents are up to date on herbacide spraying by posting application notice signs.

The Town of Okotoks is making sure residents are safe and informed about herbicide spraying.

An integrated pest management system is used to keep the Town looking tidy and help keep weeds under control.

Parks Manager Krista Michailuk says spring and fall are the prime times to do a majority of spraying but with the large amount of green spaces and parks in Okotoks touch ups need to be done throughout the season.

She says before certified town staff start to spray they take a number of things into consideration.

"In order to determine whether a site warrants any type of herbicide use we look at threshold values of weeds," she says. "We look at the weed coverage on each site and we've deemed that if the weed coverage exceeds 15 percent of the area that the site can be treated with herbicide but less than that we don't treat it."

Michailuk explains it's important we don't step on freshly sprayed areas.

"With the herbicide that is used on public land it is recommended to stay off the grass until it is dry but there will still be some odor present for a day or two after so those signs are there to let you know it has been done."

Michailuk adds when people stay off any treated areas it helps to decrease the transfer of product onto pets paws and to other spaces.