Title: Gazania is nothing but a weed in exotic clothing
[Bendigo Weekly, Letters section: Friday 13 Nov 2009, p. 13] THE beautiful and showy gazania is a terrible, terrible weed that is multiplying in pandemic proportions. The extended drought has fa. voured this tenacious plant that is thriving and multiplying. As it gains a foothold it chokes and out-competes other more environmentally-friendly plants. Part of the effect of the drought is that much vacant land, nature strips and roadside verges have not needed to be mowed or rotary hoed so one type of control on the spread of the gazania has been unwittingly negated.
Most people recognise weeds such as sour-sop or capeweed and even if they can’t keep on top of them they are not going to foster and transplant them to their gardens. However, the gazania is particularly attractive and brilliant in display arid thus people innocently seek them and out or allow them to spread naturally; that is a real problem.
When gazanias come into maturity the fine feathery seeds disperse in the same manner as the wind-born dandelidn see~ls and they will become a real threat to the flora and in turn the dependant fauna in our surrounding bushlands.
It seems the respective Parks sections of the City of Greater Bendigo council and Department of Sustainability and Environment are also oblivious to the insidious aspects of the spread of this plant. While it should be declared a noxious weed that would then place a tremendous financial burden on public assets to deal with the problem.
However, much could be achieved if these authorities simply made it be known to the public and encouraged them to remove gazanias from their properties. Many hands would make lighter work as a control.
In the last few years gazanias have gradually increased in mass along many roadside verges and nature strips throughout the city as well as in neighbouring towns and districts such as in at least two examples, the approaches into Inglewood and Goornong respectively.
I have been hand-pulling dozens of seedlings for the first time this spring from my native garden and in my case the Gazania seeds have all drifted in from the neighbours’ nature strips and road edges around the hill and streets near Flora Lane.
Let’s try and do something about it, now is the time just as they are about to seed.