Am I part of the problem? I was looking at one of my garden books from a while ago, “Attracting Backyard Wildlife†1989, written under the auspices of the Federation of British Columbia Naturalists with a grant from the BC Ministry of the Environment, Public Conservation Assistance Fund. This recommends the following for planting in gardens or leaving in a “weed patch†in the wildlife garden. Yellow Iris Iris pseudocorus Crabgrass Digitaria spp. Knotweeds Polygonum Spp. Milkweed Asclepias spp. Thistles Various All of these are now noted as nuisance to noxious in parts of BC, by various authorities. I am not criticizing the authors by giving this list. We all work with the information available at the time. I am suggesting that we have either learned a lot over the last 18 years, or the field officers in the Ministry at the time didn’t get to edit the contents. From information such as this, we urban & suburban gardeners can become part of the problem. For example, it might go like this - â€Let’s give a piece of that nice plant to your sister in Kamloops, she’s just starting a garden†…Hmm? New invasions can be started this way, or re-infection can occur by a well intentioned people as ME! A more cautious approach all-round seems to be in order. Perhaps a gentle word or two to those around me might help to spread the idea that not all plants are a good idea in all areas. If our avid gardener neighbour comes back from parts unknown with plants & no phytosanitary certificate, it might be an idea if I were a bit disapproving in the future, not envious. Just clarifying my ideas in a public forum & hoping for feedback. gb.
Another place to find invasive material is your local nursery. Or it can be over here. Just thinking about Bananna passion fruit, English ivy, and more recently the fancy grasses being touted as suitable for dry gardening. I have discovered they quiet like my place because there is a bit more rain and I have had an escapee that is not suitable for my paddock next door and have had to do some rapid hand weeding. Liz
Oh, Liz - did you get pampas grasses? That's almost as bad as the spinifex grass that came here with the gum trees, so fair trade I guess. Narsty stuff, those grasses. GB - I'd just say that caution and careful monitoring of the invasive lists, as you are already doing, is probably the best thing to do. Government officials rarely, in my experience, fully read the stuff they publish, so I'm not surprised that invasives turned up on their deer-friendly planting lists....
lorax, I'm trying to be polite, since this is a public forum & I am trying to use verifiable examples. I agree. Lots of mis-information & lack of information out there. I have come to be careful in what I [plant distribute over the last 20 years. Many people regard cautions & restrictions as a joke. gb
GB - I've always found that when somebody here on the boards wants to plant something that might go invasive on them, the best way to is to gently caution them that it might become a problem plant and to check the lists for their area.
No Lorax not the grass of the pampas but some sort of short very pretty stuff with a purple tinged leaf stem and lovely fuzzy seedheads. They are calling it the "purple fountain" I think. Pampas and I had our love affair years ago when it was fashionable :) Re the gums you may find them very useful down the track if water becomes a problem they live by the smell of a watery rag to paraphrase. Do gums grow up where you are?? Liz Liz
Yup. In fact, I can look across the road to a lovely park full of quite tall ones. They smell really lovely when it rains. Not sure which ones they are, though. As far as I'm aware, Ecuador only imported something that the locals call Eucalypto Rojo for use in reforestation of desert and semidesert, but builders here that use them for timber also say that there's a Eucalypto Blanco that they won't use because it has amazing radial torsion as it dries. I'm not sure which these are, but both seem to be stringybarks, and both varieties have white flowers. Incidentally, we traditionally torch our Gum trees on New Year's Eve. From what I understand, this keeps them healthy?
Glass, do you have access to noxious weed lists put out by government. Are there local landcare groups? We have both here and it is particularly strong movement where I live as there are State forests. Our big problem is the English ivy which grows with gay abandon up the Eucalypts. "Incidentally, we traditionally torch our Gum trees on New Year's Eve" Lorax, Every year!!!! They all flower they are the world's largest flowering plant. That is what keeps our parrots fed and the various nectar birds. They are a good building timber. Hardwood. Polished ash floors are beautiful Here's an interesting page speaking of sth America http://www.countyfloors.com/species_eucalyptus.html This one has a list of flooring timbers http://www.monarotimber.com.au/timber_gallery_flooring.htm Liz
I lived in a house in the South of Ecuador where all of the Vigas and all of the upright posts, both inside the house and out, were of Rose Gum. When I build, I am definitely using it - since it grows so bloody fast here, it's one of the least expensive and also nicest hardwoods available to build with. The whole house smelled very pleasant when it rained.
"do you have access to noxious weed lists put out by government. Are there local landcare groups?" Yep & yep. Too many @#$% lists. Canada being a federation like Aus. has Federal, Provincial, Regional & Municpal governments, their ministries & agencies -every one seems to have a list. Education seems to be the key. I am hoping to get a speaker on the subject to our Garden Club. We are marginal for Eucalyptus here. Just South & West they grow - limit of range seems to me to be similar for that Arbutus that was the subject of discussion here recently. Soggy Fraser Valley BC! gb
