Experts warn a lack of regulation in the garden industry is seeing weedy plants, that can easily be bought in nurseries or online, ‘suffocate’ our native waterways and bushland, with urgent calls for action to prevent more irreversible damage.
The call follows a recent decision by federal Minister for Environment Tanya Plibersek to take action by developing a national plan to tackle escaped garden plants and aquatic weeds. This move, which was supported by all state and territory Environment Ministers, has been welcomed by the Invasive Species Council.
Escaped garden plants are the primary source of new weeds in Australia. Weeds have already contributed to at least four Australian extinctions, and the majority of these invasive plants have yet to reach their full potential spread. They also cost the agriculture industry over $4.3 billion annually.
Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough said:
‘Australians know that weeds like lantana or blackberries are choking our streams and bushland. But what many people don’t realise is that their own garden or fish pond could be a ticking time bomb.
‘Plants like English ivy, Amazon frogbit or pretty gazanias that they’ve bought legally at a local nursery or online could get into the local environment and take over.
‘An incredible three-quarters of all listed weeds in Australia are escaped garden plants and every year the problem gets worse.
‘But this isn’t a Bunnings problem, or an individual nursery or weedy plant species problem, it’s an industry-wide problem.
‘To date, self-regulation has failed. It depends too much on gardeners or individual nurseries to do the right thing.
‘We are relying on everyday Australians to either have a botany degree or to pay close attention to the warnings in the fine print of plant labels to stop their gardens becoming a ticking time bomb. That’s a system designed to fail.
‘Environment minister Tanya Plibersek has shown great leadership in convincing all state and territory environment ministers to agree to develop a national plan to tackle this problem and make sure we protect our bush and streams from being choked out by more weeds.
‘Effective regulation by the government is the only way to solve this. There are thousands of ‘safe’ plants available which will still allow people to have amazing, diverse gardens and the industry to prosper without causing new weeds to spread around the country.
‘The development of a Threat Abatement Plan, with the collaboration and support of all states and territories, is crucial to preventing new weed invasions and controlling the spread of established weeds at regional, interstate, and national levels.
‘We commend Tanya Plibesek for taking this bold step and look forward to working closely with her to ensure our gardening practices do not contribute to the degradation of our natural environment.
‘The sale of plants known to be weeds, or those with the potential to become environmental weeds, must be regulated to protect Australia’s unique biodiversity.’
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Images of weeds are available here. Descriptions in background below.
Background:
- On Friday June 21 an Environment Ministers Meeting was held where state and territory governments united in support of the Commonwealth’s proposal for a joint Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) to tackle the issue of escaped invasive garden plants.
- Prior to the meeting, The Invasive Species Council and key supporters including Biodiversity Council Australia, World Wide Fund for Nature Australia and Australian Wildlife Conservancy sent a letter to Ministers calling for their support of the TAP proposal.
- Notable examples of escaped garden weeds impacting the environment include lantana, blackberry, and bitou bush.
- Bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata) is one of Australia’s 20 Weeds of National Significance. It is closely related to another serious weed, Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. monilifera), which invades more inland areas.
- The NSW Bitou Bush Threat Abatement Plan identified 158 native plant species, three plant populations and 26 ecological communities at risk from bitou bush and boneseed invasions in New South Wales.
- Problematic weedy plants still being sold in nurseries across the country include calla lilies, English ivy, wisteria and pampas grass.
- Symptomatic of a lack of government focus is a lack of info about priority risk species. A 2004 report (called Weeds of the future? Threats to Australia’s grazing industries by garden plants) identified 281 introduced garden plants and 800 lower priority species that present a significant risk to Australia’s grazing industries should they naturalise. Of the 281 species, at least one third (33%) are toxic and may harm or even kill livestock; almost all have been commercially available in Australia in the last 20 years; and over two thirds (70%) were still available from Australian nurseries in 2004.
- Off the back of that report, ones that impact agriculture but are still available in nurseries today include: Creeping lantana, St Johns wort, honeysuckle species, Festuca gautieri, Erodium species, blue heliotrope, mother of millions (in some places) and Ornithogalum nutans
Images:
English Ivy:
- English Ivy is listed by Nursery and Garden Industries “Grow Me Instead” website as a “rampant climber” which can “kill native trees and smother native groundcover”
- English Ivy is available at my local Bunnings
- English Ivy is taking over bushland 1km away from the Bunnings
Gazanias:
- Gazanias are listed by Nursery and Garden Industries “Grow Me Instead” website as “considered very invasive, particularly in residential areas near coastal and mallee environments”
- Gazanias seed packets are sold at Bunnings
- Gazanias are growing in a neighbour’s garden
- Gazanias are taking over the dunes less than 100m away
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