Camphor Laurel, Umbrella, Yellow Pine, Cocos Palm, Cadaghi…… they all sound like tropical, lush types of trees right? Wrong! These are all classified as environmental weeds and you may have them growing in your own backyard. Did you know Brisbane hosts over 400 invasive tree species (noxious weeds) that is increasing on average of 10 every year? Every week we are called out to prune or remove trees classified as weeds and most of the time our customers had no idea how problematic they are!
Why are weedy trees a problem?
Weeds are the biggest threat to the survival of native trees and disrupt the natural diversity of our environment. Weeds grow and spread fast due to the large number of seeds they produce which are then spread by wind, animals, waterways, birds and people.
These foreign plants are able to multiply at speed and adapt to their new environment – stealing sunlight, space, soil nutrients , minerals and moisture from the plants around it.
How to deal with weedy trees
Here are a few tips to help deal with environmental weeds:
- Learn to identify what a weedy tree is. Brisbane City Council has a great search for weeds tool to identify weeds in your yard.
- Talk to your family and friends about searching for weeds in their garden – help spread the word!
- When planting trees, tell your local nursery you only wish to plant native trees
- Remove weedy trees from your backyard – using a tree lopping expert. Brisbane Treeworx is highly knowledgeable about noxious weeds and can help with removing them.
If you are unsure if your tree is a weed, please send a photo and description to info@brisbanetreeworx.com.au and our experts can help out.
