Marie, good on you.
Covering pure stands of weed with old corrugated iron and sisalation wipes out
both plants and seeds. For single weeds vinegar works a treat - just plain
Home Brand vinegar from Coles. I pour about half a cup on the base of the
plant. I do hope this is of help to you.
Denise
On 28 Feb 2016, at 4:00 pm, Marie Tarrant <> wrote:
> I don't envy you the challenge Denise but I can appreciate it and I applaud
> you for taking it on! Introduced grasses that keep me busy here trying to
> keep the integrity of this property at Kobble Creek in SEQ so it stays viable
> for birds and all other native fauna are Molasses, Rhodes and Whiskey grass.
>
> That's just the grasses!
> Marie
>
>
>
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>
> On 28 February 2016 at 06:09, Denise Goodfellow <>
> wrote:
> Good morning all
>
> It’s been a rather dry but stormy February here in the Top End. One
> lightning strike took out a large tree, our internet connections. It sent
> shards of trunk up over two metres in length flying for over forty metres in
> all directions, some landing on our verandah.
>
> Our outdoor activity at this time of year mainly consists of weeding. It’s a
> battle to preserve a variety of native grasses and herbs for resident birds
> such as Partridge Pigeon from a variety of interlopers capable at
> transforming our floristically diverse property to a monoculture. These
> weeds were mainly brought in as cattle pasture or as contaminants in cattle
> pasture.
>
> The cattle industry has fought tooth and nail to prevent some of these
> grasses being declared weeds. However some of these weeds are now causing
> issues for graziers. According to a real estate agent properties with gamba
> grass infestations are not selling. Secondly, and probably a bigger issue
> for the cattle industry, is another weed, a Rats-tail grass (Sporobolus
> jaquemontia). The silica in this grass causes a condition called
> smooth-mouth among stock. Cattle suffering from this condiition have teeth
> so worn down they cannot feed properly.
>
> Rats-tail grass, according to one grazier, is more difficult than other weeds
> to control, one reason being that has a sticky seed and is easily spread both
> by vehicles and animals moving through it. Secondly, birds such as
> Magpie-geese favour the seed and move through the grass stripping the heads
> as they go. So some granivores may benefit from it, although probably not
> Partridge Pigeons. They feed in a similar mannter, but only on small grass
> taxa, such as Eragrostris spp.
>
> Lastly, can anyone tell me whether it would be better for a US visitor
> travelling to Singapore then on to Bali and finally Darwin to book and pay
> for tickets from Australia or the USA?
>
>
> Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
> PO Box 71
> Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
> 043 8650 835
>
> PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.
>
> Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia
> Nominated by Earthfoot for Condé Nast’s International Ecotourism Award, 2004.
>
> With every introduction of a plant or animal that goes feral this continent
> becomes a little less unique, a little less Australian.
>
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>
> --
> Marie Tarrant
> Kobble Creek, Qld
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