Two invasive plants that are flourishing in Piha at present are Agapanthus and Pampas.
Agapanthus
Beautiful as the blue flowers of Agapanthus are, the plants block drains and compete with natives, especially on rocky hillsides.
As with Pampas, digging it out is the best solution. Make sure you dispose of all root material in the weed bin.
Metsulphuron-methyl and glysophate can be used together on Aggies if spraying is your choice. It can be sprayed on or used to paint cut stumps.
Pampas
While it can sometimes be confusing to distinguish native Toetoe from invasive Pampas, there’s no problem just now. New Pampas flowers are a pinky colour when they first come out. Our hillsides are alive with pink at present!
To control Pampas, you can dig it out, chainsaw it off and then dig it out, or even use a digger if you have lots of large plants.
Glysophate is the spray of choice for Pampas.
If you haven’t got time or energy to remove it, at least cut off the seedheads and put them in the weed bin in the Domain by the Bowling Club.
More Information
Look up Weedbusters.org.nz/weed-information for details about different control methods as well as optimum quantities for sprays.
As with Pampas, if you can’t cope with eradicating the plants just now, at least cut off the seed heads and put them in the weed bin.
Happy Weeding!
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