Help At Hand For Dirty Weekends

23 October 2007

Murchison locals are being encouraged to have a ‘dirty weekend’ in their own backyards this month to get rid of weedy ornamental plants that threaten the local environment.

“Weedy species are a serious threat to our natural areas,” says the Department of Conservation’s local Weedbusters coordinator, Sandra Wotherspoon.

“Many are still being grown in private gardens, providing a seed source that reinfests bush and coastal areas, wetlands, and parks and reserves.”

A new Plant Me Instead guide to weedy species, and non-weedy alternatives that can they can be replaced with, has been released to help gardeners do the right thing.

The weeds featured in the Plant Me Instead books are the ones of biggest concern to volunteers and staff of various organisations working in these natural areas. This book is free on request from info@weedbusters.org.nz, and all Council and DOC offices in the Nelson/Marlborough region.
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Dirty Weekend Add 1

Residents and landowners of the Rotoiti district are also invited to contact the Nelson Lakes Area Office of the Department of Conservation to arrange a site visit for advice and help with control and disposal of weeds. Local rare native plants will be swapped for dead weeds.

As part of the Dirty Weekend promotion, disposal of rubbish bags and secure trailerloads of any of the weeds featured in the Plant Me Instead book will be free at the Murchison Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre on Saturday 27th October from 1-5pm. Normal rates will apply to greenwaste from plants not in the book.

Free rare native plants will also be given away to those bringing in their weed waste.

As well as ‘Dirty Weekend’ events around New Zealand during October, there is a national competition for those giving their gardens a weedfree makeover. Full details are at www.weedbusters.org.nz.

“It’s important that gardeners make the connection that what they grow in their own backyards can affect the wider environment,” says Ms Wotherspoon.

“Weedy species don’t respect boundaries and don’t stay where they are planted. Seeds are spread far and wide by birds, wind and water – and the illegal dumping of garden waste into parks and reserves, gullies, and other areas also spreads these weeds.”

“Many Nelson and Tasman residents live only a few kilometres from National Parks, bushy reserves, wetlands and other natural areas - it’s only a short hop for wide-ranging birds such as tui and starlings,” says Ms Wotherspoon.

For more information on Murchison ‘dirty weekend’ events, contact Sandra Wotherspoon, Department of Conservation, ph 5211 806. For information on weed identification and control, visit www.weedbusters.org.nz

ENDS

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