LEARN how to tell a plant from a weed with the Garden Escapees weeds guidebook – free at all MidCoast Council customer service centres and libraries.

“Responsible gardening is very important because when weeds escape from your garden, through birds, wind or other means, they can do damage to farmland and the environment,” said MidCoast Council’s Strategic Weeds Biosecurity Officer, Terry Inkson.

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“Weeds can create big problems in your own garden as well as places like parks, dams, and lakes.

“They can be very costly to control and impossible to completely eradicate once they take hold.

“We all have a legal responsibility to manage weeds on land under our care. This book makes it easy to identify weeds and understand if any action is necessary and what to do.”

There are over 27,000 plant species that have been introduced to Australia.

About ten percent are now established in the Australian environment.

The number is rising each year.

“We’re especially interested in tackling weeds which haven’t yet taken hold in the environment,” added Mr Inkson.

“A good example of this is Bocconia frutescens, commonly known as Plume Poppy, which we recently identified on the MidCoast.

“This is the first time Boconnia has been identified as escaped in the Australian environment.

“The Kiwarrak community worked with us to remove this invasive weed from the district, including in environmentally sensitive Khappinghat National Park.”

Thanks to this groundbreaking work, MidCoast Council was the overall winner in the Invasive Species Management category at the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards, held Tuesday 6 December.

“We’re very proud of those in the Kiwarrak community who helped us to achieve this amazing result.

“They’ve done a great service to the region by helping us stop this invasive weed from spreading,” said Mr Inkson.
Whether you have a small garden or own acreage, this book is for you.

It’s also a great resource for nurseries, community groups, government agencies, schools and universities.

You can now pick up the book at any MidCoast Council customer service centre or library.

You can also download it at https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Community/Environment/Environmental-Projects/Garden-Escapees-weed-handbook.