"Imidacloprid is also the active ingredient in Advantage Flea Control and many agricultural insecticides. The chemical structure of imidacloprid (right) is a synthetic analog of nicotine, the natural alkaloid found in the leaves of tobacco and related plants."

JoppaRich, that's why I'm not terribly keen on eating the stuff! But I guess I need to know if all is lost with my beautiful herbs, or if I can let the stuff dilute for a couple months. I know it's approved for certain edible plants, but that's not really saying much.
Am I overreacting, or is all my work & expense for naught?

The article in the link says it stays active for weeks to months. This article says it is extremely toxic to bees and other articles say the active ingredient is associated with Colony Collapse Disorder among bees - bad, bad stuff!

Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you treating your lawn with chemicals next to an "organic" herb garden? It doesn't make sense. The chemicals don't respect the boundary between your lawn and your garden. You would be eating those chemicals even if the plants weren't sprayed directly.

I have a 150 year old house with a lawn of the same age. The lawn doesn't get sprayed or treated with anything. No watering either. Sure I have quite a collection of organic herbs or weeds (depending upon your viewpoint) in my lawn. But it is green and healthy all summer long. The grass goes dormant if it gets really hot and dry, but the weeds are often more resilient and stay green even in those times. I have harvested dandelion, plantain, yarrow, self heal, ground ivy, violets, chickweed, and more from my organic lawn/herb garden. All I'm trying to say is, treating your lawn wiith poisons is unnecessary and in fact, not recommended if you are intending to do organic gardening.

FataMorgana

Here is a link that might be useful: Article

I actually didn't know that they were going to use insecticide on the lawn. I still don't know why... seems strange to me that they treat for pests that we don't have. But they have yet to call me back, so I haven't been able to ask.

I knew they would be fertilizing, but my herbs are in a 30" high raised bed separated from the lawn by about 10' of mulch & brick walkway, so that was a compromise between me & my green-lawn-loving husband. The lawn is newly-installed sod that was laid in January, and the landscaper who installed it said we should have someone fertilize this year to help it get established.

All that said, I wasn't terribly concerned about a little bit of fertilizer overspray, (frankly I think they're so cheap with the lawn fertilizer that it would be a miracle if there was enough overspray to get that far) :P so I knew it wouldn't be truly organic... but I DID know that I wouldn't use any bug-killer on it AND I told the lawn care people to avoid it entirely. So much for that plan...

It does look like horrible stuff. It was applied in granules, so I went out & removed about the top 2" of soil & then hand-picked around all the plants to see if I could get most of it off, but I'm still not sure what to do from here.

It would cost me about $1500 to replace the dirt & plants that are in there, plus the $1500 I already spent to put it all in there in the first place. That said, eating pesticide seems like it could get pricey long-term. :/

Was there some sort of contract signed with the lawn people? Did the contract explicitly say no insecticide? If it is in writing and they botched up, I think they should cover the replacement.

In the future, I would suggest that if a green and fertilized lawn means that much to your hubby, that he puts down an organic lawn product himself on the yard. It is the only way you won't be in this situation again.

FataMorgana

I actually do have it in writing, I guess I was just hoping to not have to start at square one again after all the work I've put into it, but it does appear as though that's going to be the only truly safe option.

Now that you mention it, I recently saw an ad for another lawn care company that offers an "organic" program, maybe I'll call them. We have a huge yard & my husband travels quite a lot for work, I don't see DIY as an option... But I can at least see what the other company uses & see if it's a feasible & safe choice. :/

Thanks for your input. :)