Controlling Ragwort

Driving around South Gippsland one can see many ragwort infestations large and small along roadsides and properties. It is most important that these plants are prevented from seeding setting another 10 years worth of infestation in to the district.

Blackberry and ragwort are the responsibility of adjacent landholders on all shire roadsides and on private land owners are expected to prevent the growth and spread to neighbours. The complaints about neighbours has started to escalate over the last few weeks. Once ragwort has flowered you do not have long left before it goes to seed. It can be foliar sprayed with herbicide at the flowering stage but once the flower heads start to brown it is better to cut of the heads put in a black plastic bag and leave in the sun to solarise and then spray the rest of the plant. If slashed or pulled ragwort will still seed and grow from root fragments. It is possible to use aerial application on steep hard to get to areas. Experience has demonstrated that tackling the ragwort problem occasionally or intermittently will not achieve long term control. Ragwort’s capacity to reinfest requires control programs to be well planned and sustained over a number of years. Landholders undertaking a high level of on-going control can expect excellent results.

In recent years considerable work has been put into the formation of Ragwort Control Groups and Landcare Groups enabling landholders to work together to help each other clean up their respective properties. It is up to the whole community to work together to keep this noxious weed under control, not to do so will result in loss of productive land and increased disputes between landholders.

Tree Weeds

Over the last 150 years or so many exotic trees have been imported into Australia only to discover many have weed type characteristics spreading out of there original placement out into the landscape by fruit and seeds eaten by birds, foxes, also spread by wind and water. Examples are hawthorn, wild cherry, willow species, box elder, desert ash, cape wattle, pine and tree tobacco. Problems occurring:`

• They take up lots of physical space
• They can create impregnable barriers of thickets
• They have a large area of soil occupied by roots
• They sometimes send up suckers a long way from the parent plant even have the original tree has been removed. A good example here would be Elm trees
• They alter the microclimate
• They may alter the soil chemistry
• Willows clog up waterways

Weedy trees favour the growth of other weeds beneath their canopies. They provide additional perching and roosting places for birds from which weed seeds are deposited in droppings. ‘Bird poo haloes’ containing numerous bird dispersed weeds such as boxthorn, bridal creeper sweet pittosporum and blackberry.
Weed trees can be removed by cutting down as close to the base as possible and pasting glysophate herbicide on the cut stump surface. This must be done with 10 to 30 seconds of the cut being made otherwise the stump will seal it self and chemical will not penetrate. The tree should not be under stress; normally spring to early summer gives best results.