Learn about Weeds and Weeds Scavenger Hunt
Weeds can cause a lot of debate amongst plant loving people. Often you will hear people say that weeds are just plants that are growing in the wrong place, and that they not ‘bad’ plants. This is true, weeds are plants in the wrong place. They have usually been introduced to New Zealand from another country. Often they are pretty and attract birds. Nothing wrong with that… is there?
Actually, in Aotearoa where we are desperately trying to restore our fragile native ecosystem, some of these pretty plants, loved by birds and gardeners are ‘bad’. The invasive species can spread quickly and rapidly take over our native areas, smother our native plants, and completely upset the balance. They may be spread through seeds on the wind, garden waste being dumped in natural spaces, or by birds eating the berries/seeds and then depositing them all through our native bush. You may hear people say, “I know that this plant is classed as a pest, but I love it and it attracts the birds to my garden. I keep it under control.” The problem is that all the birds that it attracts, are then spreading it to places where it will not be in control anymore. Just as introduced mammals such as rats and stoats have spread and upset the balance of our native animals, these introduced plants have upset the balance in our native bush.
Do you know which plants are pests in New Zealand? You might be surprised to learn that some of our much loved garden plants, like flowering cherry trees, jasmine, and agapanthus are terrible weeds in our natural environment. You can find out more about which plants are considered pests in NZ on the Weedbusters website. They have great ‘Plant me Instead’ booklets for each region that give you alternative plant suggestions too.
Take a quiz HERE and see how many of our common weeds you know.
Here at Kids Greening Taupō we spend a lot of time with tamariki trying to remove these ‘pest plants’ and trying to save the native plants underneath them. Check out this area of 50 year old native trees at one of our schools. The jasmine and ivy had completely covered the trees, pulled some of them over, and smothered the entire undergrowth layer, preventing any seedlings from growing. These are likely to have originally come from garden waste. Flowering cherry trees had also popped up all through the area and crowded out the native plants. These were likely to have been spread by birds.
Now, what can you do? Here are some challenges for you:
Head out into your garden and check out the plants that you have. Can you swap any of them for less invasive species? Use the ‘Plant me Instead’ booklets
Think about your green waste. Do you ever dump it over the fence, or into a natural area? If so, please stop! Educate your neighbours, friends and family about how dangerous it can be to our environment to dump garden waste.
Head out on a weed scavenger hunt and see which weeds you can identify in your local green space. Check out our scavenger hunt below.
Once you have identified the weeds in your green space or gully, research the best way to get rid of them. Use the Weedbusters website. You may need to invest in some supplies such as loppers, gardening gloves and Cut n paste gel. It can be essential to ‘paste’ some plants with poison gel to prevent them growing back, but please follow safety precautions and have adult supervision if you are doing this.
Get some friends together and have a community weeding session. This is a great way to build some community spirit and to start up a community project. Come together to restore our native flora and destroy the weeds!
