Invasives information exchange
Date posted: 24 March 2010 - Permalink / Shortlink
A page for exchanging Advice and Experience in dealing with Pests, Diseases and Invasive Plants
One of the outcomes from our Conference on Pests, Diseases and Invasive Plants: running a clean garden, held at the University of Sheffield, March 22-24, was the need for a means to exchange information on experience with pests, diseases and invasive plant problems. Whilst Forum groups, bulletin boards, facebook, twitter and more were suggested, we hope to begin this with the following table which attempts to unite problems with experience. Use Ctrl+F to locate a particular pest disease or technique
Please submit any useful information to matthew.jebb@opw.ie, especially failures or ongoing work with no results as yet, so that others can benefit from your work or offer assistance.
| Pest/Disease/Plant | Management Technique | Successes | Draws/On-going | Failures | Source of advice | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akebia quinata (Chocolate Vine) | Plants NOT to grow in GB and Irish Gardens | This vine has begun setting seed at Ventnor gardens, Isle of White | Matthew Jebb, National Botanic Gardesn, Glasnevin | |||
| Anemanthele lessoniana (syn: Stipa arundinacea) | Plants NOT to grow in GB and Irish Gardens | This grass appears to be highly invasive | Matthew Jebb, National Botanic Gardesn, Glasnevin | |||
| Botrytis spp | cultural control, chemical application | Crathes Castle Garden - becoming an increasing issue in traditionally drier and colder North East of Scotland - possibly related to climate change? | UK Pesticide Guide, general research | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Box Blight | remove & burn affected plants and fallen foliage | Geilston Garden - replacement of box hedging with Taxus baccata `Semperaurea' The Hill House - replacement of box hedging with Ilex crenata initially, then edging boards | RHS initial identification, RHS Garden article for initial thoughts on alternatives to box | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Crassula helmsii | herbicide control | Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Information sheet | Planned eradication in Ireland, contact Matthew Jebb at NBG Glasnevin | |||
| Deodar Cedar | Sudden death of two 100 yr old trees with no apparent cause. | National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin | ||||
| Gaultheria shallon | cultural control, herbicide application | Culzean Castle Garden - herbicide application with the right product at the right time is effective; some herbicide not effective. | Brodick Castle Garden - 2010 control programme in shelterbelt underway Inverewe Garden - 2010 shelterbelt project includes control programme | general research, trial & error | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Gunnera | herbicide injection and volunteer assistance | Clare Island July 2009 and 2010 see Gunnera webpages | Achill Island, same technigue, but scale beyond abilities of team | Cristina Armstrong, NBG Glasnevin | ||
| Himalayan Balsam | hand-pulling | Balmacara Estate - Initial hand- pulling gave only first year reduction then population stabilised. Current method, clear woody vegetation (eg gorse),strim when 15cm high to reduce numbers. Follow-up with visits every 2-3 weeks for seeding plants, which are dumped together in easily accessible location for future control. | trial & error, GB Non-Native Species Secretariat | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Honey Fungus (Armillaria spp) | cultural control, chemical application | Arduaine Garden - chemical control inconclusive, as plant died rapidly-, cultural control ongoing | UK Pesticide Guide, general research | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Hottentot Fig (Carpobrotus edulis) | Herbicide application | The National Botanic Gardens has a project to eradicate Hottentot Fig from Howth Head see webpage. | Matthew Jebb, National Botanic Gardesn, Glasnevin | |||
| Japanese Knotweed | herbicide injection | Balmacara Estate - inject herbicide, allow to re-growth to reach 1 m then foliar spray; follow-up spot treatment for 2-4 years Falkland Palace - inject herbicide in October | other sites due to lack of persistence, access & land ownership issues | National Trust Views magazine initially, networking | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Japanese Knotweed | herbicide application | Crarae Garden - spray young growth Holmwood House - brush-cut first growth to ground level, spray re- growth (CDA) | other sites due to lack of persistence, access & landownership issues | chemical manufacturer initially; Environment Agency Code of Practice | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Japanese Knotweed | covering with fresh cow manure | Glenstal abbey has entirely erradicated knotweed by the following method: Cut in spring/summer and cover with 12" of fresh cow manure. Plants killed within 5 months. Remove after 1 year. | Japanese Knotweed abhors anoxic conditions, and smaller amounts fo cow dung under sillage wrap may be as effective. | trial & error | Brother Anthony, Glenstal Benedictine Abbey, Limerick | |
| Japanese Knotweed | herbicide versus mechanical treatment | treatment during late summer and autumn appears to be more effective, it is essential that there are plenty of green leaves to absorb the herbicide before application is undertaken. | Cutting, mowing or grazing gradually weakens the plant, but will take many years to exhaust the rhizome (probably more than 10 years). Cutting should be performed at least once a month during the growing season. | see the Cornwall knotweed project webpages for information | Cornwall Knotweed Forum. | |
| Leycesteria formosa | hand-pulling | Culzean Castle Garden - hand-pulling by volunteers, persistence | trial & error | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Phytophthora ramorum & P. kernoviae | cut & burn; footwear, tool & equipment hygiene | 3 x P. ramorum sites clear to date | 1 x P. ramorum site ongoing 1 x A kernoviae site ongoing | NT, SGRPID, DEFRAIFERA, FC, SASA | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Rabbits | netting, wall & gate maintenance, shooting, (gassing?) | Island of Canna (including Canna House Garden) - successful rat eradication project has led to sudden and major explosion in rabbit population... | Land managers, nature conservation specialists | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Rats | baiting & trapping | Island of Canna - successful rat eradication project undertaken to protect rare birds and Canna mouse populations | Brodick Castle Garden - baiting to protect spring bulbs being eaten | Land managers, pest control company | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Red Spider Mite | insecticide application, cultural control | Culzean Castle Garden - regular attacks on citrus managed by insecticide application; persistent infestation on Clianthus sp solved by planting outdoors! | Crathes Castle Garden - note attacks increasing year on year, increased resistance and reduced range of chemical controls | Specialist nursery | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Reed-mace (Typha latifolia) | cultural control | Arduaine Garden - digging out (failed) but cutting off below water-level gave fast and permanent control, with limited re-growth | trial & error | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Rhododendron ponticum | herbicide application, cultural control | Culzean Castle Garden - cut to ground, leave 2 years, spray re-growth with herbicide Brodick Castle Country Park - cut to ground with volunteers spray re-growth with herbicide | Crathes Castle Garden - notes increase in territory in North East of Scotland with increasing growth rates (up to 45cm per season) and seeding - starting to get a real foothold Inverewe Garden - 2010 shelterbelt project includes digging out small plants and spraying re-growth with herbicide | general research | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Rhododendron ponticum | herbicide injection, cultural control | Balmacara Estate - 2009 programme of abandoned drilling in favour of hatchet to encompass all stem sizes; mixed results due to contractor. The 2010 follow-up using 2 person team and lever & mulch method. Brodick Castle Garden - follow-up drill and herbicide injection is proving reasonably effective if re-growth from initial cutting back appears | general research | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Rhododendron ponticum | lever & mulch | Balmacara Estate - implementation of new chemical-free technique devised by Gordon French and Donald Kennedy of Morvern Community Woodlands; described as a cross between tai chi and karate, it relies levering the plant apart using hand tools | networking | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Rhus radicans (Poison Ivy) | Plants NOT to grow in GB and Irish Gardens | Poison Ivy has set seed in Austria, and is being removed from all botanic gardens. At NBG Glasnevin we have also removed the plant. | The public health implications of this plant establishing itself in the wild in Europe are very serious. | |||
| Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) | cultural control, herbicide application | Arduaine Garden - persistent strimming and hand pulling has virtually eradicated the problem | Brodick Castle Garden - 2010 control programme in shelterbelt underway | trial & error | National Trust for Scotland | |
| Sasa palmata | herbicide application | Culzean Castle Garden - CDA herbicide application in autumn, leave all winter, herbicide application in late spring, cut in the summer, treat any re- growth with CDA herbicide application in autumn; the following spring growth will be small and easily managed. Persistence is key! | trial & error | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Soft Scale (Cottony Camellia Scale?) | chemical application | Inverewe Garden - application of chemical and plant invigorator, May to August, during breeding cycle | Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Weeds | cultural control, chemical application | Crathes Castle Garden - notes continual flushes of weeds into winter when they still grow slowly - set seed in early spring; possibly related to climate change? | UK Pesticide Guide, general research | National Trust for Scotland | ||
| Whitefly | insecticide application, biological control | Culzean Castle Garden - insecticide application disrupts reproduction - it appears as though it is not effective but the whitefly is gone the following year-, may be used with a biological control Geilston Garden - reduced population of host plants, persistence | UK Pesticide Guide | National Trust for Scotland |