Woody tree/shrub weeds
Tree/shrub weeds present in Gahnia Grove in June 2018:
Brush wattle - 2 x c.5mH, both felled by Wildlands in their 2018 annual Eskdale Reserve weed control operation. One, c.15cmD, was felled without herbicide at our request, and the subsequent death of the stump without use of herbicide was recorded here
We thank Wildlands for their collaboration in this Trial, which reflected our 1997-99 experience of custom and practice in the control of black and brush wattle, and was conducted to build knowledge of a no-cost means of reducing pesticide use.
Tree privet - follow their earlier "progress"
We eventually felled the largest one (c.3.5mH) since after ringbarking at the only convenient point, half-way up, its new growth occurred in the few centimetres between it and the fast-growing native sapling nearby. It has not required intervention again yet, but we expect to continue to pick off new shoots for a while.
Chinese privet
The 3-4mH Chinese privet did not immediately respond to ring-barking, and though we are told by a Texan iNat correspondent that death would likely occur over three years, when faced with its abundant fruit crop we cut almost through the remaining branches, letting them fall to the ground under their own weight and continue to fruit there, where seedlings can easily be suppressed or uprooted as a group.
Elaeagnus and Cotoneaster
Several Elaeagnus and cotoneaster juveniles under canopy, or amongst dense foliage of a similar height, were suppressed by cutting, breaking down and leaf-stripping in June 2019, and the small amount of regrowth since was treated in the same way.
The largest Elaeagnus died, and the smaller one was last seen as a short slender stem trying to escape the shade of a lush leafy mapou...unsuccessfully, as it was broken down once again.
Brief easy repeat operations are expected to result in death or uprootable trunks within a year.
Prickly hakea
A single prickly hakea (Hakea sericea) c.4mH was found prostrate and partially uprooted under moderately dense kanuka/ponga canopy. the cause of its demise is unknown, but it was completely manually uprooted by the contractor assisting us for a few hours in Spring 2018.
Comments
The Chinese privet produced very few seedlings, probably less than a dozen, all easily uprooted, before the entire tree died after a few repeat interventions.
Prickly hakea were later observed in several groups in the older regen forest, mostly fallen and in an advanced state of decay.
They are apparently a common species post-fire, like the manuka and gorse common in the younger margins of this forest.
Fire may have been used historically to clear areas of the present forest, by Maori colonists for territorial survey, and post-European colonization for agriculture.
Tree privets have mostly died, with some now decaying, and one or two producing scant regrowth from stout trunks closely surrounded by native vegetation. Control of these regrowth shoots is done easily with finger and thumb annually, and these trees are expected to die soon too, occluded from light and essentially without foliage.
Add a Comment