Newsletter of the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management
"Bushland-friendly gardens: weed-free wonderlands
The Weeds CRC has developed a new website area, named
Bushland-friendly gardens, that suggests which plants should be avoided in our gardens.
While there are many organisations that currently present weed information in a myriad of formats, we felt that it was just too difficult for many gardeners and landscapers to find out this information on a regional basis. Our website provides a 'one-stop shop' in the form of a 'clickable' map that will generate two lists of commonly available garden plants that should be avoided in your chosen region.
We have started at a relatively broad scale by subdividing the states into a total of 22 regions based on a classification of climatic zones alreday widely used in the horticultural industry.
Reviewing more than 100 lists of problem plants prepared by a range of groups and bodies around Australia, we made the assumption that the more lists on which a plant appears, the more it is likely to cause impact within any region. Therefore, when clicking on a particular region of the map provided, two prioritised lists are generated. Where a plant species appeared three or more times in lists for a region, it was placed into the 'serious environmental weeds' list. We recommend that plants on this list are removed as soon as possible. If a plant species appeared twice, it was placed on the 'environmental weeds to avoid' list, in which case it should not be planted, or at least should be managed with great care.
We believe that the final weeds lists for each region are a fair representation of the potential and actual impacts for each species.
While the site does not suggets alternative species to plant, it will point (again on a regional basis) to reference documents and web information that includes such advice.
To give your feedback please use the facility provided on the website.
Jackie Watts"
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