g'day amelie,

there are lots of plants sold in nurseries that can be environmental pests, just that a lot of gardeners are not interested in having safer native/indemic plants.

here are some more: the crucifix orchid, queen palm, coral tree, golden rain tree, agave's. some because the birds and bats carry the seeds others because people dump unwanted plants in the bush but the list would be bigger than what i ahve suggested. and when we destroy the bio-diversity we make even native plants weeds ie.,. silky oaks and yellow guavas for two, as well plants native to one area become weeds in other areas.

as well olive trees grown for production can become weeds when birds carry off the seeds.

len

mail len

lens garden page

I was at a market recently and this stall had and sold a large number of plants that I recognise as environmental weeds - asparagus fern and ivy just to name two. (He sold most of his plants) I suspect that people buy them because they are familiar with them with no consideration of the dangers.

There are varying grades of 'pestiness' too, with some worse that others. Yes, I often recognize 'weeds for sale' in nurseries. Some of them are quite attractive, but not that climbing asparagus fern. I saw ochnas for sale at a market one. The stallhoder was trying to persuade me to buy one. After all that trouble I went to to remove them from my yard!!!!!

What is a weed? One definition is 'a plant growing where it's not wanted'. I think you might be about to embark on an uphill battle - pushing rocks! I mean, if you approach your local herb nursery, you'll be confronted with thousands of plants considered by many to be weeds! Gotu kola, dandelion, stinging nettle, fennel, motherwort, horehound, mint, soapwort, coltsfoot, couchgrass, goosefoot (cleavers), horseradish, horsetail, Spanish lavender, goldenrod, comfrey, evening primrose, nasturtium, just to name a very, very few.

Going one step further, any plant growing outside its native habitat can be considered a weed, especially if it has the potential to become naturalised to the detriment of indigenous species. So the vast majority of our garden vegetables and fruit, as well as ornamentals like roses and wisteria, could also be included in your weeds list. We've seen what lantana has done to our native plants. It's well within the realms of possibility that pumpkin and passionfruit and sweet potato and choko vines could one day pose a similar threat. Food for thought, so to speak.

If we fought against all those being available for sale in our nurseries, we'd soon be complaining loudly enough about lack of choices! The key to buying 'weeds'therefore, is responsibility for controlling them within our own little environment - our backyards. Not everyone has the same sense of responsibility, so public education would seem to be a step towards a solution. However, you're fighting against the human propensity to defy and try to defeat Nature. If someone wants an asparagus fern in their native garden, they'll have it, come what may!

I agree with what you're saying, but I think that there is a difference between plants which may become weeds and those which have already been classified by the 'powers that be' as environemntal weeds ... and asparagus fern is one of them.
There are comparatively few classified environmentlal weeds and if these banned from commercial sale, then I don't think anyone would miss them. There are still plenty of plants available which aren't such a threat.

AAaaarrrrggghhh lantana! Horrible scratchy stuff. I grew up on a cattle property in Nth Qld and we were overrun with various varieties of it. Drives me crazy when I see it planted in nature strips in towns, for sale in nurseries and at the school where I teach.
Sue

Amelie and Daisyduckworth,
I agree with you both.

Asparagus fern grows wild along the road where I live (just outside Brisbane) and the birds are the spreaders of this weed and it comes up in the garden and the lawn.

Environmental weeds are not necessarily illegal where as a "Declared Weed" is. Declared weeds get a "P" rating where P1 is the worst kind and if it was deliberately introduced then big fines will apply. If it is a lesser weed, say P4 then this may only require you remove the weed within a given time. (Note. P4 is only used to illustrate the point, I am not sure which is the correct number).

To take this further the Camphor Laurel, Jacaranda, Coral Tree etc. are environmental weeds but it is not illegal to own one. The above comments will vary fron State to State.

Doug.

Why dosn't some student or botanist some where have all these pests catagorised into ratings of feralness and the ratings by law must be added to nursery labels. I would say that a lot of these terrible plants are sold not to people who just don't care or are ignorant or malicious but are just not as informed as others and would never realise the damage that could be done by them. To them its just a nice hardy little plant with lots of flowers, or pretty leaves etc. If there was an easy to recognise rating system that gardners could use to cross reference, maybe some of the problems that have occoured with these garden plants, like for instance singapore daisy, could be avoided. All the information seems a little hidden away. It needs to be more available. If nurseries (wholesale or retail) are allowed to sell things like lantana etc, they should also be responsible for informing about the potential of the plant.
It could be even just a small note on the label (where they also inform of copyrights) For instance ."cuttings from this plant can easily escape into the wild and overtake native species. Please be envioromentally responsible."

Excellent idea lilly1!!!!!

The only problem is, A weed in one area may not be a weed in another area, so they would have to have a study in every area. They couldnt put a blanket description for a plant because it may only apply in certain areas where the conditions favour it, although things like Lantana are weeds everywhere. (I think!)

Glad to see other people feel the same way when seeing what is potentially a "weed" being sold at the nurseries. Mind you, as one poster stated, a weed is a plant that grows where it is not wanted, so I guess if you want your garden overun with Lantana it really is not a weed in that person's eye. A better idea might be to sell specific plants with a warning label. I only recently talked my not so plant wise friend out of planting those two lovely fig trees in her fairly small garden, like it never occured to her the damage these sort of trees can cause in years to come. Plants like that should really carry some sort of warning to the not so aware gardener that they may be planting a potential problem.

agreed!

I totally agree with lilly1. Olive trees are another such plant that comes to mind where information is needed to inform buyers that seeds from the trees can easily be transported from their backyards to the bush via birds and grow as destructive weeds. And I see them in Bunnings sitting with all the other fruit trees. A little notice on the plant card would be a big help, especially since a lot of people read them for planting and growing information. Something like 'WARNING: This plant blah blah blah...' would hardly go unmissed.

Saintin