Return to the Gardening in Oz Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
Posted by Greg_Boyles Vic Aust (gregsplants@eftel.net.au) on Fri, Dec 16, 05 at 7:01
| http://wwf.org.au/news/wwf-welcomes-emergency-ban-on-harmful-grazing-weed/
WWF welcomes emergency ban on harmful grazing weed
16 Dec 2005
Today's decision by the Victorian government to ban the sale of the harmful weed bear-skin fescue (Festuca gautieri) - a known grazing and environmental weed that went on sale as a garden plant in late 2004 - is a welcome development in the fight against invasive species, says WWF, the conservation organisation.
"This action is the first time the government has used its emergency declaration powers under the Catchment and Land Protection Act, and so sets an important precedent for other invasive plants that have only recently been brought into Victoria but are yet to be widely distributed," said Andreas Glanznig, WWF's Senior Policy Adviser.
"It shows that Victoria is serious about acting early to nip these problems in the bud," he said.
Bear-skin fescue, a perennial tussock grass native to southwest France and northeast Spain, is not edible for grazing animals and ends up dominating grasslands in its range.
In the UK and US, the invasive plant has already jumped the garden fence and started to encroach on native vegetation.
The weed poses a risk to lowland temperate grasslands, one of Australia's most threatened native ecosystems - a good portion of which are found in Victoria.
WA has already banned the import of the weed, which also presents a risk to biodiversity in SA, NSW and TAS.
WWF has alerted the NSW, SA, and TAS governments of the weed risk posed by bear-skin fescue but they are yet to act.
Invasive garden plants are the major source of Australia's weeds and make up 70% of environmental and agricultural weeds. Australia's weed problem costs the government $4 billion a year.
For more information
Andreas Glanznig, Senior Policy Advisor, WWF-Australia
Mobile: 0417 020 174
______________________________
Andreas Glanznig
Senior Policy Adviser
WWF-Australia
Level 13, 235 Jones St
Ultimo NSW 2007
GPO Box 528
Sydney NSW 2001
T: 02-8202 1228
F: 02-9281 1060
E: aglanznig@wwf.org.au
www.wwf.org.au
|
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
- Posted by deejaus Melb.Vic. Aust (My Page) on
Fri, Dec 16, 05 at 17:09
Hi Greg,
What do we do if we happen to see this for sale anywhere?
Cheers,
Dee |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| You know what I do Dee I tell them its a invasive plant. As I got annoyed at seeing Jacaranda's for sale in the fruit shop here so I told them, Surprising me as they thanked me very much and said that they dont get any profit from these plants as one of the locals grow them and gives the money to charity, but they asked me to let them know if I see any others. So I will. Some people just dont know ....Cheers..MM. |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| When did jacaranda become a weed. Brisbane City council planted a whole street in Westlake about 2 years ago. Which although weedy does look great. |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Hi HJ. I dont know if they are a weed in Brisbane but here in Logan you cannot buy them any where. I tried to when we started on the garden as there were a few on our block and I though them very pretty but were told by Bunnings and others that they are not allowed to sell them. I asked why and the person went away to find out, and she came back and told me that it the seeds there are thousands on every tree and once the seed pod opens up they germinate everywhere as they are those fly away type seeds, do they call them winged, something like that. So after hearing that we make sure that all the seed pods are cut off our trees, actually we did it yesterday trouble is I dont know how we are going to get them off when the trees get taller but if we pick up the pods every season at least we will be doing something, and if there comes a time we cant well we will cut the trees down, as by then all the good trees we have planted will be so much bigger....Cheers..MM. |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Takes my hat off to you MM, it's a lot harder to regard something iconic and with attractive flowers as weedy than an unappealing species. The big tipuana on our acreage is responsible for the odd seedling over the fence into the paddock; if they come up in an area of possible water flow then they are gone. In fact there is a medium size volunteer tree which will make a nice bird roost for a while when I finally kill it in situ (cutting it down and poisoning the stump just makes more work!). I have been over every sq inch of parts of our place this week and it can be very interesting :)
Rose |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Finding out which plants are weeds in which parts of Australia is such a vexing process as there seems to be no central database to check. It all seems to be done on a piecemeal basis. For instance, there's the AQIS database, which will tell you which plants can't be imported. However, AQIS prohibits the importation of some plants that are not necessarily declared weeds in all states, and allows others that might be prohibited in some states. Then there are the individual state governments, which have their own regulations. Buggered if I can figure out from the Qld govt website which plants are declared weeds in the state! And finally there the local councils. I suppose you'd have to call them to find out which plants are prohibited. The situation is ridiculous. No wonder there's so much confusion about which plants are prohibited in which areas ... So, have we established if the jacaranda is a prohibited weed in Brisbane? And if so, on what authority? |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Hi Cestrum. Like you I cannot find the right info on any of the sites. But I look at it this way if the nurseries are not allowed to sell it in your area thats good enough for me. I dont know if the BCC class it as a weed but I do know that it is classed as a 2 on the Ipswich Shire Council weed list. I think a lot has to do with locations like if there was a risk of it spreading into bushland then dont plant it and as I live a couple of minutes walk from Tygum Lake and across the road from the Logan River where there is heaps of bushland and open areas, its best I do my bit to help this enviroment and just because it is a pretty tree which it is does not mean it is a good tree. "Got this from another GW site" Bignoniaceae species, wind dispersed, deep taproot=dry tolerant, seasonally deciduous and fast growing. And this one from the Logan City Council Website, Dont know if it will help.
Weeds Australia |
Here is a link that might be useful: Weeds
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Thanks for that, MM. With those weblinks I was finally able to find the 'Declared plants of Qld' webpage. (Somehow I've always gotten lost in the links when searching that website for such a list.) That, together with the Ipswich CC PDF, pretty much describes what I need to know. (Turns out I don't have any declared weeds, but planting Japanese honeysuckle, which I was considering doing, probably wouldn't be wise although it's not [yet] illegal in my 'non-sensitive' area.) Interestingly, neither the jacaranda nor Cestrum parquii (C. nocturnum is the one I grow, BTW) are on the Qld govt's declared list, although they might well be prohibited in individual shires/councils. (Not in Ipswich, though.) |
Here is a link that might be useful: Declared plants of Qld
RE2: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
More on Cestrum parqui. The Declared Plants of Qld webpage states that this is not a declared plant of Qld (see weblink below). But, if you download the attached factsheet, you'll discover that 'Green cestrum needs careful control because its extensive, shallow rooty system can produce many
new plants from suckers, particularly after root
disturbance or injury.' Plus, it's toxic to animals. So in fact planting it is a bad idea. But you wouldn't get this impression from the webpage. You would have to download the attached PDF, and how many people would bother? (And what of those with slow/unreliable connections?) They'd just look at the webpage to confirm that the plant isn't prohibited. Ridiculous! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Fact sheet on Cestrum parqui
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Thanks Cestrum I will have a good read of those links tomorrow....MM. |
RE: Watch out for this weed in your local nursery
| | |
| Bunnings in Logan might not sell Jacaranda, but Bunnings in Springwood does (or used to not that long ago). Also sells my favourite - mother in law's tongue - very popular plant since the drought and water restrictions. |
|
|
|
|
