Maryland pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · 7 min read

The short answer

In Maryland, a licensed pesticide business must record every application, general use as well as restricted use: who applied, when (date and time of day), what was treated and for what pest, the area, the address and owner, the product and its EPA number, the rate, the total used, the equipment, and the wind at the site. Keep those records 2 years. Fertilizing lawns for hire needs a separate fertilizer license and certification, its own record of each application kept 3 years, and an annual report by March 1.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Regulation Section and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) regulates both. Its Pesticide Regulation Section licenses pesticide businesses, certifies applicators and investigates misuse. Its Nutrient Management Program runs the lawn fertilizer rules for professionals (COMAR 15.20.10).

Sources: MDA Pesticide Regulation Section, MDA lawn fertilizer law

Licenses you need

Pesticide business license: one for each place of business, in the categories you work in, with a certified applicator designated for that location. It runs July 1 to June 30 and needs liability insurance. MDA says lawn care companies using weed and feed or organic pesticides need one.
Certified applicator: lawn work is Category 3, Ornamental or Turf (3C covers turf and lawns). Certification is renewed every year with approved training or a new exam; MDA says Category 3 applicators need eight recertification credits a year.
Registered employees: other employees who apply pesticides must be registered with MDA, within 30 days of starting, and complete approved training before registration. Until they are trained they may only apply with a certified applicator or registered employee physically present.
Fertilizer: anyone paid to fertilize lawns with nitrogen or phosphorus must be a certified professional fertilizer applicator or work under one’s direct supervision, and each location needs an MDA fertilizer business license. These run January 1 to December 31, so a company doing both has two renewal dates.

Tip: Your business name and MDA license number go on both sides of every vehicle carrying pesticides, and the fertilizer license number on any service vehicle at a job.

Sources: COMAR 15.05.01.10 Licenses: types and requirements, COMAR 15.05.01.04 Pest control employees, MDA: Pesticide applicator certification and business licensing requirements (PDF), COMAR 15.05.01.08 Applicator certification and categories

What to record for each application

COMAR 15.05.01.12 lists what each pesticide record must hold, where it applies. MDA’s guidance says this covers general use pesticides, not only restricted use ones.

Name of the person who applied it (the individual, not the business)
Date of application
The plant or site treated and the pest to be controlled
Area treated (square feet, acres or a description), with the measurement when the label specifies one
Address of the treated property
Name of the owner or tenant
Common name and EPA registration number of each pesticide
Rate and concentration
Total amount used (your best estimate where exact measurement is impossible)
Type of equipment used
Time of day of the application, as specific as possible
Wind direction and estimated speed at the site when applied (MDA asks for the direction the wind is coming from)

MDA says no particular form is required and computer records are fine, as long as every item is there. A job on the same site that takes more than one day should be a separate record for each day.

Fertilizer has its own record under COMAR 15.20.10.13: the applicator’s name, the date, the size of the area, the property address, the fertilizer analysis, the rate, the total used, and an original or legible copy of the fertilizer label. MDA asks that records include the client’s county, because the annual report is broken down by county.

Sources: COMAR 15.05.01.12 Records, MDA: Record keeping for commercial applicators (PDF), COMAR 15.20.10.13 Fertilizer record-keeping and reporting, COMAR 15.20.10 Fertilizer application requirements (chapter)

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Pesticide application records: 2 years, made available to MDA immediately on request.
Fertilizer application records: 3 years, available for inspection when MDA asks.
Fertilizer annual report: due to MDA by March 1, covering the previous calendar year. Missing it can lead to suspension of the license or certificate.
Employee training: keep the date each employee completed approved training for as long as they work for you.

Sources: COMAR 15.05.01.12 Records, COMAR 15.20.10.13 Fertilizer record-keeping and reporting, COMAR 15.20.10 Fertilizer application requirements (chapter), COMAR 15.05.01.04 Pest control employees

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

When you apply a pesticide, or when a customer signs a contract, give the customer written information with your business name, Maryland pesticide business license number and phone number, the Maryland Poison Center phone number, the common name of the pesticide or active ingredient, and the label’s precautionary statements (or the label itself, or an MDA-approved safety sheet). If a customer asks for advance notice of applications, you must give it.

Any licensee applying a pesticide to a lawn or landscape plants must post a sign at the time of application. The regulation’s sign details:

4 inches high by 5 inches wide, rigid, yellow with bold black lettering, on a stake with its bottom 12 to 16 inches above the soil
Front: “CAUTION / PESTICIDE APPLICATION / KEEP OFF” with the symbol and “CUSTOMER: PLEASE REMOVE AFTER 48 HOURS”
Back: the date applied and your business name and phone number
At each primary access to the treated property, or at the spot for a small spot treatment
Left up 48 hours; after that the customer removes it

MDA keeps a list of pesticide-sensitive people (with a physician’s certificate) and sends it to ornamental and turf licensees by February 15 each year. Before treating a property next to someone on the list, notify them by phone the day before or that morning, or in person or in writing before the application.

Sources: COMAR 15.05.01.15 Posting of sign, COMAR 15.05.01.16 Pesticide information for customer, COMAR 15.05.01.17 List of pesticide sensitive individuals

Fertilizer rules

Professionals may apply nitrogen or phosphorus to turf only from March 1 to November 15. From November 16 to December 1, up to 0.5 lb of water-soluble nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft is allowed.
No more than 0.7 lb of water-soluble nitrogen or 0.9 lb of total nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft in one application (enhanced efficiency fertilizer has its own limits).
Not on frozen ground, and never on pavement, gravel, decks or patios.
Not within 15 feet of waters of the State, or 10 feet with a drop spreader, a rotary spreader with a deflector, or a targeted spray.
A soil test (no more than 3 years old) before the first phosphorus application and before a second nitrogen application to an area, except when establishing turf on bare ground.
Phosphorus only when a soil test calls for it, or when establishing turf on bare ground; overseeding with phosphorus needs a soil test.

Sources: COMAR 15.20.10 Fertilizer application requirements (chapter), Agriculture Article §8-803.4 Professional fertilizer applicators

How GroundsQuote’s chemical records line up

GroundsQuote keeps an application record for each chemical a crew puts down on a job. On a job at a property in Maryland, Finish job asks the crew for the details Maryland lists, and the records export with the columns in Maryland’s order. Here is each item Maryland lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

Maryland record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
Maryland asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Name of the person who applied	Applied by: everyone riding with the crew that day starts checked, and the crew unchecks anyone who did not apply it	Recorded
Date of application	Date applied	Recorded
Plant or site treated and the pest	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), set on the job, the service and the target pest	Recorded
Area treated	Area treated (sq ft)	Recorded
Address of the treated property	Address, city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
Name of the owner or tenant	Customer	Recorded
Common name and EPA registration number	Product name, active ingredients and EPA Reg. No., as entered in the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Rate and concentration	Rate applied, mix ratio and gallons of mix applied, set on the job	Recorded
Total amount used	Total used	Recorded
Type of equipment	Equipment used, set on the job (it starts from the chemical’s setup)	Recorded
Time of day of the application	Time applied: when the job was finished (the office can correct it), plus the job’s start time	Recorded
Wind direction and speed at the site	Conditions on site: the crew confirms the nearest weather station’s wind speed and direction or enters what they measured; required on Maryland jobs	Recorded
Fertilizer: applicator, date, area, address, rate, total	Same fields as above	Recorded
Fertilizer: analysis	Analysis (N-P-K), from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Fertilizer: copy of the label	A copy of the label (PDF or photo) kept on each chemical; each record notes the label it was applied under	Recorded
Fertilizer: client’s county (for the annual report)	County	Recorded

Keep each fertilizer’s label on file in GroundsQuote, and check it is the current one. The visit email can tell the customer what was applied, but it does not carry everything Maryland’s customer information must include (your license number, the Poison Center number and the label’s precautions), so keep handing out your own sheet.

Everything a GroundsQuote application record holds

When:: Date and time applied (when the job was finished), job start and finish times (the office can correct them), and when people may go back onto the lawn (from the label’s re-entry interval)
Where:: Customer name, phone and mailing address, street address, city, state, ZIP and county of the property, and where on the property it went (front lawn, beds, fence line…)
Who:: Everyone who applied it (the crew riding that day starts checked) and the person supervising, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license number, category and expiry, and the business license when license-keeping is switched on
Product:: Name, type, manufacturer, EPA registration number, state registration number, EUP / Section 18 / 24(c) number, active ingredients, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, and a copy of the label on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used, mix ratio, water or carrier, gallons of mix applied, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), service and crew
Weather:: From the nearest weather station at the start and finish (temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, gusts, rain in the last hour, conditions), and the conditions on site: the crew confirms the station reading or enters the wind, direction and temperature they measured
Your state:: Each job follows the rules of the state its property is in: Finish job asks for the details that state lists and waits until they are filled in, and the records export in that state’s column order
Kept beside the records:: Each person’s training, ID copies and certificates and what they are responsible for; neighbor requests and notices, registry notices and attempts, notices given to customers, signed waivers and contracts, each with a copy of the paper
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept

See how it works on the job in chemical records and field tools, or read about GroundsQuote for lawn treatment companies.

Official sources

Everything on this page comes from these Maryland sources, checked on October 10, 2026. Read them for the full text and any changes since.

Keep application records as the crew finishes the job

Set the chemicals each service uses once. The crew sees the planned amounts for each lawn, and finishing the job saves the record with the product, rate, area, applicator and weather.

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Questions

Do I need records for general use products like weed and feed, or only restricted use?

Both. MDA’s record-keeping guidance says the records rule covers general use as well as restricted use pesticides.

Can I keep Maryland application records on a computer?

Yes. MDA says no particular form is required and computer records comply as long as every required item is recorded.

Other states

Pesticide and fertilizer record rules by state →