Spring has Sprung – Take action on weeds

Spring has Sprung image

As spring arrives and the weather warms up, the City is calling on the local community to help protect, preserve and enhance the urban and natural environment by taking control of weeds on private property and removing them before they seed and spread.

Weeds are plants that grow in areas where they are not naturally occurring and proceed to modify natural processes, usually adversely, resulting in the decline of the vegetation communities they invade.  A weed usually requires some form of action to reduce its effects on the economy, the environment, human health and amenity.

Weeds typically produce large numbers of seeds and spread rapidly, invading natural areas, parks and urban landscaping areas. Weeds can be spread by:

  • dispersal of seeds by water, wind, birds, animals, human or vehicle movement;
  • site activities;
  • underground root systems;
  • mulch, soil and plant stock;
  • garden rubbish dumping; and
  • fire.

Yearly growth patterns of weeds vary with some species growing in summer and seeding in autumn and others growing in winter and seeding in spring.

Weeds can impact on communities by degrading natural areas, parks, verges, median strips, and public access ways, lower the amenity, functionality and aesthetics of sites and make these areas less usable by the community.

The City undertakes an integrated weed management approach to prevent, monitor, prioritise and control weeds on City managed land as detailed in the Weed Management Plan. A variety of new weed control methods have recently been implemented by the City in its public open spaces and urban landscaping, including steam and hot water along with WeedSeeker technology to reduce the use of chemicals in controlling weeds. A new Weed Management Plan is currently being developed and will be released for community consultation in 2022/23.

Steam weed control image

What can you do to help?

Let’s help beautify the City together.