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Removal
of Alien Plants and
Rehabilitation
In July
1988 I saw a huge roadside banner in Hamburg, Germany that stated "We
need
the natural environment for our survival on earth but the natural
environment
certainly does not need us, so take care of it" this statement had a
profound effect on my life.
This
short guide is for the residents of Mount Moreland to help them to
improve
their own living environment, the living environment for the other
residents,
to increase the value of their properties and last but not least to
benefit the
environment, in fact we have a moral and civil duty to one another and
to the
environment to do our bit to lessen the effects of climate change.
Following
the COP17 conference on climate change we are all very aware that we
need to
urgently change the way we deal with the natural environment that we
all need
for our survival on earth.
We now
know that the activities of man on this planet have drastically changed
the
order of things that worked for millions of years so much so that our
very
survival is now at stake.
Over
hundreds of thousands of years plants and other forms of life evolved
differently each having its own specific place and function on this
planet
until we came along and started to change things, in particular in the
last 100
years which is now threatening our continued existence on earth.
The good
news is that each and every one of us can do our own little part to
repair and
to mitigate some of the impact that we have done to the natural
environment.
One very
positive thing that we can do is to remove all of the alien plants that
we have
in our gardens which evolved over hundreds of thousands of year to fit
into a
natural ecosystem somewhere else in this world where they belong which
is
certainly not here. The reality is many of these plants have already
become
invasive resulting in huge financial consequences for the nation not to
mention
the damage to the natural environment. In these times of climate change
there
are going to be many other plants that could also become an
environmental
threat so the safest thing to do is to progressively remove all foreign
plants
from our gardens and replace them with local plants that have adapted
specifically for this place on earth.
The
three very most invasive of the trees that we have in Mount Moreland
are the
Brazilian Pepper, Schinus terebinthifolius, the Syringa Melia azedarach
and the
Indian Laurel Litsea glutinous. The three just mentioned are being
closely
followed by the Umbrella Tree Schefflera actinophylla which is fast
becoming a
problem in particular because of its habit of growing on buildings
where it can
cause sever structural damage.
There
are two ways to eradicate unwanted alien trees the most obvious is to
simply
cut the tree down, this often has the disadvantage that if the stump is
not
treated with a herbicide immediately after cutting numerous new trees
will
sprout up out of the soil from the roots which are then very difficult
to deal
with. This is very much the case with Syringa and to a lesser degree
Brazilian
Pepper.
The
other method is to poison the unwanted trees with a suitable herbicide
such as
Garlon with the active ingredient triclopyr and or Tordon with the
active
ingredient picloram.
A few
points to ponder before one rushes out and removes or poisons trees on
their
properties.
1. If
there are a large number of or only invasive and other alien trees on
your
property do not go out and remove or poison the whole lot in one go
this will
denude the property which would have a negative environmental impact.
Instead
work on a 3-5 year program to systematically remove the unwanted trees
and to
replace them with suitable local trees such as those which I have
identified as
being suitable for Mount Moreland.
2. If
you are going to poison a tree make sure that when it eventually rots
and falls
that it will do no damage to life or property.
3. Do
not plant trees from other regions in South Africa such as the Fever
tree or
Ficus bubu these are just as much alien to this environment as a tree
coming
from South America
Poisoning
Method
The most
effective herbicide to use for the most commonly encountered trees here
in
Mount Moreland the Brazilian Pepper and Syringa are very easily
poisoned with a
mixture of Garlon with the active ingredient triclopyr mixed with
diesel oil at
the concentration of 1.5% Garlon.
This mix
is then simply painted in a band of about 250 mm around the entire
trunk as
close to the ground as possible. The more difficult one such as Litsea
may need
the addition of Tordon to the mixture to be effective. There are
however a few
trees that are close to impossible to kill using acceptable herbicides
these
trees need to be cut down and the stump removed such as the Umbrella
tree. These
herbicides recommended when applied correctly have very little negative
impact
on the environment and when compared with the negative impact of the
tree that
has been poisoned this is negligible.
Tree planting
When
planting trees here in Mount Moreland due to the nature of the soil it
is far
better to plant far less trees and do so properly so that the tree has
a chance
of growing into a healthy specimen. My recommendation is for any tree
regardless of the size of bag that it is in to dig a hole one meter
cubed then
back fill it with one third well rotted compost and approx 100grams of
fertiliser which has first been well mixed. Plant the tree and water it
well
keeping the tree constantly moist until it has established thereafter
it will
need to be watered from time to time for the first year or so during
times of
drought.
Removal of alien Plants
Octopus Tree Schefflera actinophylla
Brazilian Pepper Tree Schinus terebinthifolius
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