Seasonal Weedbusting Urged For Holiday Home Gardens

09 January 2012
For immediate release

Seasonal Weedbusting Urged For Holiday Home Gardens

Owners of holiday homes are urged to take some time this summer to get rid of harmful ornamental plant species lurking in their gardens.

Holiday home gardens have often been planted with species that are hardy and don’t need much care, are easy to propagate, and grow fast to fill gaps in gardens quickly.

Unfortunately, these same traits have meant that some of these species have ‘jumped the garden fence’ and invaded natural areas, crowding out native species and destroying coastal, dune, bush and wetland ecosystems.

“You can see this particularly in coastal areas, where weedy plants like agapanthus and pig’s ear have spread from beach baches to surrounding areas, including cliffs, dunes and estuaries”, says National Weedbusters Coordinator, Carolyn Lewis.

“It’s a sad fact that the beautiful natural areas that New Zealanders value for rest and recreation are being destroyed by the weedy species that have commonly been planted there in the past by those establishing their gardens there.”
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“With many holiday homes only getting a thorough garden tidy up once or twice a year, with little maintenance in between, it is important that owners know what species are a problem in their area and do the right thing by replacing them with non-weedy plants,” says Carolyn.

Weedbusters ‘Plant Me Instead’ booklets for most regions of New Zealand can help owners identify the species that are considered weedy in their areas, and non-weedy species that can be planted in their place. These booklets are available free on request to info@weedbusters.org.nz, or from most regional council and Department of Conservation offices.

Control methods for weedy species can be found at www.weedbusters.org.nz.

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