Welcome to the first edition of Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Environment News, a weekly column distributed to local media to help Council spread the word about the work of their environment team. Plant swap at Moruya Markets this weekend cancelled ******* Due to tomorrows forecast of wet weather, the Moruya Markets Plant Swap which was advertised for between 8am-12pm has been cancelled. If you would like to participate in this still we encourage you to attend the next plant swap at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens on Friday 7 April from 1:30am-3:30pm, or through the free bush friendly garden visits. *******
Weeds are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in our shire and when weeds spread into bushland reserves they become time consuming and costly to control. Prevention is always better than a cure and the idea of a plant swap is that we get to the weeds before they have a chance to spread.
Garden owners are often unaware of the threats posed by environmental weeds. They spread quickly through the dispersal of seeds and berries, and once outside the garden fence they smother and out-compete native plant species and reduce food sources and habitat available for native animals.
To get involved in the plant swap, just remove environmental weeds like asparagus fern, honeysuckle, cassia and African daisy from your home garden, pop them in a bag and bring them to the Council stall between 8am and midday. In exchange, you’ll be given a Bush Friendly Garden Pack, which includes up to four free native plants.
The free replacement plants are grown in local conditions, so once they get in the ground they generally grow quite easily - good news for green and brown thumbs alike! While you’re there, the team can also provide advice on plant identification or garden ideas.
To find out if a plant is considered an environmental or noxious weed in the Eurobodalla, check out the Weed Finder on the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens website at www.erbg.org.au/weeds.php or call Council’s environment team on 4474 1000
Give the Weed finder a try - just click on the image above to begin.
