Join the war on weeds!

Together with land clearing, invasion of native vegetation by environmental weeds is one of the most serious threats facing Western Australia’s native plant and animal diversity today.

Environmental weeds are plants like any others, however they are not local and are highly invasive, rapidly replacing native vegetation when this is disturbed and cause harm to our environment. Many of these weeds are introduced from abroad or even from other parts of Australia, escaping from gardens and invading our local urban areas and bushland.

Proliferation of these weeds results in serious degradation of the native flora and negatively impacts on native fauna. Our native insects and animals become deprived of food and habitat, inevitably compromising their survival. In short, environmental weeds are a major threat to Western Australia’s natural environment.

Disturbance of natural vegetation can be caused by a number of factors including grazing, logging, rubbish dumping, trampling and vehicle impacts. These disturbances create ideal sites for rapid and widespread weed invasion.

If we are committed to preserving the natural environment in the City of Melville we must act fast. Identification of these invasive weeds and understanding the danger that they pose to our environment are the first steps towards effectively eradicating this widespread environmental problem in our city.

The City of Melville invites you to join us in our War on Weeds. The attached brochure highlights some of the most harmful environmental weeds that threaten our natural ecosystems. Although this is not an exhaustive list, we hope it will prove useful as a means of identifying these invasive species. It is important to avoid planting these unwanted species in gardens, and we encourage community groups to assist us in our War on Weeds in their local areas by organising ‘weeding brigades’ to help keep our native bush land free from invasive weeds.

Weed Management Practices in the City of Melville

The City of Melville’s weed management program employs a number of techniques and strategies to control weeds for practical and effective long term outcomes.  Resources for bushland management are limited and therefore the City of Melville has prioritised all bushland reserves based on knowledge of the bushland areas and the weeds that are impacting on it.   The priority system divides reserves into three groups according to their bushland condition and values: priority one reserves are in good to very good condition, priority two reserves are in good to poor condition and priority three reserves are highly degraded areas.  The priority system determines the type and amount of weed control undertaken in each reserve – weed control techniques are outlined for a five year period in each reserves management plan.

Weed control techniques include physical methods such as hand weeding and slashing and chemical methods such as applying selective herbicides by spraying or application of non-selective herbicides by hand wiping or injecting tree stumps. Before applying herbicide treatments council has considered the impact of control options on co-occuring native flora including trees, shrubs, geophytes, grasses and other native herbs and on fauna. The methods and chemical concentrations that we employ are considered best practice management.  This is reflected in the fact that the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority in Kings Park and Bold Park are using the same regime of weed control.

Specific Herbicide Information

There are a number of herbicides used in the City of Melville to combat weeds in large areas where manual removal is impractical and expensive. 

Some herbicides are selective herbicides that control both annual and perennial grass weeds. There is no evidence that these herbicides affect other vegetation.  Other herbicides are non-selective and used against bulbous, cormous and tuberous species of weeds. A successful method of application is to wipe the leaves of the weeds just before flowering. Other types of non-selective herbicides are applied by spot spraying specific species of weeds.

Signage and Notification of Residents

Contractors working for the City of Melville are required to indicate when herbicides are being used by placing temporary signage in the bushland area – near where the herbicide is being applied.

The City of Melville advertises in local newspapers the location and timeframe of herbicide application each season.  In addition to newspaper advertising; the times and locations of contractors work in bushland reserves is published on this website.

City of Melville herbicide application proposed for week beginning …….

List of herbicide locations: