Non-Chemical Lantana Eradication
Amba
Hello All,
My husband and I have just bought 7 acres of land down on the south
coast of NSW (Australia) which has about an acre of Lantana on it. As
this is a pest plant in NSW, the Rural Land Protection Board has placed
an order for it's removal. They recommended a chemical called Grasson to
do it and were baffled when I asked for advice on alternative methods.
I really don't want to use chemicals but have had some trouble finding
information on alternative methods for this plant. Does anyone have any
experience with Lantana removal - physically digging it out or any other
method (can't think of one myself but then that's why I writing this I
guess!!). Any experience, advice, stories or information would be very
welcome. On the 'net I have been able to find plenty on propagating the
plant but nothing on eradicating it!
Please e-mail me directly if you wish and thanks for your help,
Regards,
Alisa
Helen+Paul
I work for the Qld. Dept.of Natural Resources on the biological control
of weeds. I am particularly involved with Lantana camara project. I
have the somewhat ironic job of growing Lantana.
The Dept.'s PESTFACT recommends or lists:
* a sickening range of chemos to deal with Lantana.
* a number of insects that have been introduced and released against
Lantana. None of these insects have been very effective so far,
unfortunately.
* mechanical control: cutting as low as possible (but growth is very
vigorous), grubbing out stumps. Seeds will continue to come up.
* fire: regular burning (say once or twice a year) and planting pasture
seed to provide competion against Lantana seedlings and fuel for later
fires.
They say "The treatment of large infestations of lantana with herbicides
is not economically feasible. Fire, dozing/stickraking, slaching/cutting
can reduce dense infestations to less than 10% of area requiring spot
treatment. The use of fire as a part of a management program is
essential for the control of dense infestations. A suggested control
program is:
* Exclude stock to establish fuel load.
* Burn when you can get a permit.
* Sow improved pastures (consult you local DPI blah blah)
* Continue to exclude stock until pasture has established and seeded.
* Burn again in the hot dry months, prior to rain or spot spray.
* Follow-up each burn with spot spraying for the next few years."
I'm giving all this advice as a 'regular Norm', not as an employee!! I
quoted all that for simplicity, but I would personally ignore any
reference to using mchemical sprays.
My approach might be:
* Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
* Burn.
* Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
* Burn.
* Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
* Plant fast-growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
native species).
* Mulch as much as possible.
* Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
* Plant fast growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
native species).
* Mulch as much as possible.
* Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
* Plant fast growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
native species).
* Mulch as much as possible.
There is no easy way, unfortunately. A common 'regen' principle is to
work from the least infested to the most infested over time. Gradually
chew away to its heart. Also, the Lantana is there because other plants
were removed too much or from poor farm management, so removing lots of
Lantana might only provide a niche for a different weed, or open up for
the Lantana to zoom back harder.
I can post or fax the PESTFACT to you if you want.
The very best of luck to you.
Paul Kristiansen
Brisbane, Qld.
Ken Yeomans
Helen+Paul <nah...@citec.qld.gov.au> wrote in article
<50o82b$g...@citecuf.citec.qld.gov.au>...
> Amba <lee...@nectar.com.au> wrote:
> >Hello All,
> >
> >My husband and I have just bought 7 acres of land down on the south
> >coast of NSW (Australia) which has about an acre of Lantana on it. As
> >this is a pest plant in NSW, the Rural Land Protection Board has placed
> >an order for it's removal.
snip
Paul Kristiansen replied
>
> I work for the Qld. Dept.of Natural Resources on the biological control
> of weeds.
snip
> My approach might be:
> * Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
> * Burn.
> * Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
> * Burn.
> * Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
> * Plant fast-growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
> native species).
> * Mulch as much as possible.
> * Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
> * Plant fast growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
> native species).
> * Mulch as much as possible.
> * Dig, pull, cut, hack, butcher.
> * Plant fast growing ground cover, shrubs and trees (preferably local
> native species).
> * Mulch as much as possible.
>
> There is no easy way, unfortunately. A common 'regen' principle is to
> work from the least infested to the most infested over time. Gradually
> chew away to its heart. Also, the Lantana is there because other plants
> were removed too much or from poor farm management, so removing lots of
> Lantana might only provide a niche for a different weed, or open up for
> the Lantana to zoom back harder.
>
> The very best of luck to you.
>
> Paul Kristiansen
> Brisbane, Qld.
>
I recall from many years ago some friends on the North coast of New South
had reasonable success pulling lantana out with a rope (or chain) which
they wound several times around the individual clumps before pulling with a
tractor. A long rope enabled them to walk around the clumps and put a noose
around each patch in turn. The rope reduced the need to crawl into the
crowns. Someone held the end of the rope firm and the noose tightened
around the crown as the tractor took up the slack. They were very pleased
with the results. By not having any knots in the rope it comes away fairly
easily after the lantana is pulled. If you don't have a tractor then some
sort of winch, hand or vehicle, may give you the power you will need to
dislodge the lantana.
If this works okay then you have some options like recycling the plant
material through a power mulcher, stack it in heaps to let it dry prior to
burning or whatever you like.
It would be better to pull when the ground is somewhat softened by rain
which may be now. That is if you got enough rain from that last frontal
system that came through. We only got 50 mm here on the Gold Coast of
Queensland but that was nice.
Kind regards,
Ken Yeomans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keyline Designs PO Box 3289 Southport, Qld 4215 AUSTRALIA
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Email: yeo...@keyline.com.au URL: http://www.keyline.com.au
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Contoured farm photomaps for remote planning, water conservation, hillside
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan Johnston D.B.
Amba <lee...@nectar.com.au> writes:
>I really don't want to use chemicals but have had some trouble finding
>information on alternative methods for this plant. Does anyone have any
>experience with Lantana removal - physically digging it out or any other
>method (can't think of one myself but then that's why I writing this I
>guess!!). Any experience, advice, stories or information would be very
>welcome.
I've been playing this game on and off for the best part of 40 years on
my parents property (was a farm - mainly bananas) at Buderim on the
Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
We've never used chemicals, so I don't know how effective they'd be, but
barring that - or getting in a bulldozer - which may well be the best
solution, all solutions seem to involve lots of hard work and persistence.
A few comments on our experience:
1. A good heavy brush hook is the most essential tool - for getting at it.
It cuts fairly well - unless its dead. Cut at an angle (say 45 degrees) to
the stem and angled towards the root. I find I can cut stems up to about
2in (5cm) diameter with a brush hook. For anything larger than that,
a bow saw is necessary. (I've never found an axe effective in lantana - it
bounces too much.)
2. If its small enough to pull out, that's the best approach. You might
be surprised how much you can get this way. The runners that it typically
uses to spread into new areas can almost always be pulled.
For more major roots, brush the stem(s) off about 70cm from the root and try
pulling it in different directions. If the roots are mainly in one direction
it will pull more easily in that direction. (Perversely - on slopes this
usually seems to mean pulling it uphill.)
What can be pulled depends markedly on the soil. If the roots get around
solid rock, it is next to impossible for any significant size. On some soils
at least, it is easier to pull after rain.
3. If its too large to pull, we generally use a grubber (mattock). A hoe is
too light to be effective.
4. When you do get it out, don't leave it on the ground - it will just root
again. I usually try to hang it in a tree. - Not beautiful, of course, but
once its really dead, it can go back on the ground.
5. For accessing really thick lantana, we've sometimes found it effective
to use a couple of planks (large as you can conveniently manage - say about 3m
of 5x2(in)). Throw one on top and walk on it to break the lantana down (using
the brush hook too) and throw the other plank in front of you and move onto
it.
6. If you're patient, you can get some help from other plants. Of course, a
good tree cover will keep it to reasonable proportions. We also encouraged
a legume (promoted for improved pastures - we had a few cows too) to grow
over the lantana. I think it may have been siratro and seemed to be moderately
effective - particularly in conjunction with techniques like 5. However,
this particular one is not a local to this area - and has developed into
something of a nuisance itself - some adjacent areas are becoming suburban -
and I have heard it referred to as "Johnston's curse" in recognition of my
fathers role in introducing it there.
7. For thick lantana, we have tried running a wire rope through under it,
tying both ends to a vehicle, and then pull it with the vehicle. We used an
old ex WW2 jeep for this game, but something heavier would probably be more
effective. This was effective but like all the other techniques, pretty
slow. You need to stand well clear of the wire of course - breaks could
be very dangerous.
Although we've never resorted to it, I suspect that getting a bulldozer
or similar, may be the best solution for thick lantata, if it is accessible
enough and there is not too much vegetation among it that you wish to
preserve.
Be careful when working with lantana.
You need to be careful not to get it in the eye, as scatches there could be
nasty. It is quite brittle when dead and even worse to work on then.
Lantana does have the virtue of being a great haven for wildlife,
particularly reptiles and small birds.
Best of luck
dan. d...@cs.uq.oz.au