Fancy A Dirty Weekend In Your Own Back Yard?

Fancy a dirty weekend in your own back yard?

Residents of the Kapiti Coast are encouraged to have a Dirty weekend in their own back yard. After a session clearing environmentally-damaging weeds from their garden, they will be rewarded with a replacement native plant at a weed swap exchange at the Kapiti Uniting Parish at Raumati from 2pm to 5pm on October 14.

This is part of a national Weedbusters initiative to promote environmentally-friendly gardening by urging people to replace garden weeds with natives and so improve our natural environment, not just for people but also for our native insects, lizards and birds.

"We want people to have a dirty weekend by climbing into their back gardens and ripping out those invasive exotic plants that have become serious pests in our parks and reserve, says DOC botanist John Sawyer.

The Department of Conservation is hosting the event in conjunction with Greater Wellington Regional Council, Pritchards Garden Centre and with the Raumati Sustainability Expo.

These events are targeting, in particular, the most invasive and nastiest garden weeds including wandering willie, climbing asparagus, evergreen buckthorn, mistflower and cathedral bells.

They can be swapped for a wide range of eco-sourced indigenous alternatives such as toetoe, pigeon wood, wineberry, lemonwood and flax. More than 300 native plants will be available at the weed swap.

John Sawyer says using plants native to the region can help buffer existing reserves and create habitats and food sources for native animals. Native berries attract native birds and lizards, and densely-tangled plants provide shelter for lizards and invertebrates. Spring gardening is also a great way to get fit for summer.

More than 300 exotic plants are considered serious weeds in New Zealand and 75 percent of them originated as garden escapes or have been dumped in parks and waterways, says John Sawyer.

"Garden weeds have the potential to replace native species in the wild. This jeopardises our indigenous wildlife and has a detrimental impact on our recreational opportunities."

"Because of the fantastic public response to past weed swaps we've decided to organise more, helping gardeners do the right thing by killing their weeds, thereby helping us protect our local parks and reserves."

To avoid mistaken identification, photographs of weeds growing in the region can be found in the multi-agency book Plant me instead - a guide to environmentally-friendly gardening available for sale at the weed swap.

An additional weed swap will be held at Waitangi Park, Wellington, Saturday 13 October, 10am - 2pm, organised by DOC in conjunction with Wellington City and Greater Wellington Regional Councils.

Weedbusters: www.weedbusters.org.nz
Greater Wellington Regional Council: www.gw.govt.nz
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network: www.nzpcn.org.nz

ENDS

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