Typical woody weeds within 300m of Hackett houses
Japanese Honeysuckle, a common garden escapee has opposite leaves that are sessile or on short stems. Young leaves shown here on new shoots from nodes along the vines are often lobed (courtesy of Canberra NatureMapr).
Woody weeds are perennial plants, evergreen or deciduous, climbing, creeping or upright growing, with woody stems such as Grevillea, Cootamundra wattle and their hybrids, hakeas, privets, prunus and other ornamental fruit trees, Wild roses, cotoneasters, Nettle tree, Hawthorn, African olive, Sacred bamboo and Ivy which have escaped from gardens and public land and continue to be spread in the nature reserve by fruit and seed-eating birds, foxes, ants, and sometimes by humans dumping garden waste.
Many produce a lot of seeds and seedlings from berries and berry-like fruit. If not controlled early, they are capable of forming impenetrable thickets, shading out and smothering local native plants and degrading the grassy woodland ecosystems.
Removing woody environmental weeds will be a continuous task – usually carried out by volunteers – as long as they grow in gardens and public land adjacent to nature reserves; see this report from ten years ago: The continuous struggle with woody weeds.
Three methods to tackle woody weeds
Hand-pulling: A simple method to control small seedlings of Privet and Cootamundra Wattle is to grip the plant close to the ground and gently wiggle to ease it out, ensuring that the roots come with it.
Chipping: Small seedlings which are difficult to pull out may be chipped out using the sharp flat edge of a hand mattock. Aim for about 2cm below ground to sever the stem below any green growth. Take care to minimise soil disturbance. Certain species such as wild roses produce lateral roots that produce suckers after the parent plant has been chipped out and are better treated by….
Cut & Dab: For larger seedlings and shrubs, cut stems close to ground level and immediately treat cut surface with glyphosate (Roundup) at a high concentration. The herbicide is pre-mixed for use at working bees, and will be in spray bottles or sponge dabbers. Treat every cut surface liberally within 10 seconds for optimum effect. Cut and treat each stem of a multi-stemmed plant separately to avoid delayed herbicide treatment.
ACT Weeds Manual 2023
includes excellent photos and diagrams to help identify woody (and herbaceous) weeds, as well as notes and tables on how and when to control them:
https://22565297.fs1.hubspotusercontent-ap1.net/hubfs/22565297/ACT-Weeds-manual-Nov-23.pdf
