Since its foundation, weed control has always been a key focus of Friends of The Pinnacle, though
our activities and methods have evolved and adapted with time. See weed control background for more information.
Weed control measures have varied over time in line with changes in particular weed infestations.
The main activities being pursued currently are listed below.
Weekly weeding sessions
Two small weeding groups operate on the reserve most weeks throughout the year, one on Thursday morning
and one on either Saturday or Sunday morning. These groups largely concentrate on physical methods of weed
removal: chipping, grubbing, pulling and bagging flower and seed heads (when necessary).
Some low volume
herbicide-based methods are also used when appropriate:* weed-wanding for plants with rosettes, low volume
spraying of small dense patches of weeds and "cut and paint" or "frill and paint" for woody weeds too large
to pull or grub (both of which involve introducing concentrated glyphosate into the active part of
the trunk or stem).
Scything is also occasionally used (see below)
* these are permitted provided at least one member at the session has Chemcert certification and
prepares and dispenses the chemical.
While the teams aim to work most weeks, this is subject to suitable weather and the availability of a team
leader. In addition, starting times and meeting locations may vary through the year. If you'd like to
join us on an occasional or one-off basis contact the team leader by email (see below) at least 24 hours
ahead to find out if the group will be meeting and if so where and when. If you participate more frequently
we can add you to the appropriate email list and you will automatically be informed the day before if, when
and where the team will be meeting.
Spraying
Our main form of weed control (about 50% of our effort on average) is systematic
spraying with herbicides. We predominantly use selective broadleaf herbicides targeted to specific weed groups
to minimise the possibility of affecting native grasses.
The ParkCare Volunteer Policy requires all sprayers to be
Chemcert accredited, and funds are available for that.
Main weed targets for spraying are St. John's Wort, African Lovegrass, Verbascum, Sweet briars (briar rose) and
Blackberries. At times Paterson's Curse, Thistles, and Capeweed are also targeted. Spraying is mainly carried
out from October to May, but when conditions are appropriate this can be extended right through winter for some
targets.
Organising the timing of spraying is left to the individuals, because each sprayer works through an
assigned area at their own pace. If you would like to help with this, contact
Warren Bond to find out more about it, have a trial run and
arrange the necessary training if required.
Slashing and Scything
In the 2010-11 season the reserve was heavily infested with saffron thistles (see photos below)and
we found that slashing just prior to seed set was an effective method of control.
At that time we
used brushcutters to slash more than 40 ha of the reserve; many of the areas slashed have never had more
than a few scattered saffron thistles since that time. At that time we also adopted scything as a more
environmentally friendly and safer slashing method and have continued to use that method for occasional
small areas of saffron thistles and sometimes other weeds. Slashing has been used effectively to "buy time"
to treat St. John's Wort when there is not enough spraying capacity to treat it all before flowering.
