Weedbusting Spotlight: Privet

From Whaingaroa Weedbusters

Privet is just one of many pest plants rampant in our local environment and across the country. It just happens to be flowering now near you. Just take a look around and notice the extent of it. In Te Uku or Whatawhata it’s almost all you see. Native birds don’t love it and move away. Is this what we want?

Kill it by cutting it down as low as possible and immediately pasting with cutnpaste Bamboo Buster or equivalent. Available at Hartys Fishing and Hardware.

Or on bigger trees you can use a 8-14 mm wood bit on a drill, make shallow holes 10cm apart all the way around the very base of the tree and along any exposed roots. Use a syringe to carefully fill the holes with neat glyphosate.

If you want to do either of these methods I can help provide some resources.

Trouble shooting:

• Choose a fine day ( if you can find one !)

• If you cut without pasting they will sprout and you have a bigger mess.

• If you cut them down and leave a tall stump they will resprout even with paste.

• If you don’t apply paste within 30 secs the tree starts to seal the cut and the product won’t work as well.

• If you don’t drill around the whole tree little bits will survive.

They’re resistant to clumsy applications, not called pest plants for nothing. Sure there’s some folk who like privet. But the tide will turn if enough people take action to remove them. Whaingaroa Weedbusters is not an organisation with a labour force, just one person (Leanne Steel) providing some awareness via Facebook and people doing their thing individually and collectively.