How To Identify Weeds And Other Invasive Plants

When left unchecked, invasive plants can rapidly take hold in gardens, paddocks and pasture – so how to identify weeds, in order to eliminate them?

In Queensland alone, weeds cost us an estimated $600 million annually, and have significant impacts on primary industries, natural ecosystems, and human and animal health – without even mentioning the many inconveniences and general irritations that they cause the average Australian gardener.

The tricky part is often spotting them in the first place and making sure to not get them confused with other native and even endangered plant species. There are many government resources and identification charts available online that can assist you in spotting invaders. That being said, did you know that weeds are also classified into families? Generally, we class weeds into one of three families – woody, broadleaf and grassy types.

Woody Weeds – Generally relatively easy to spot, woody weeds are exactly that – think wooden branches, often with thorns, and present as a shrub or bush type of plant that are often found in bushland. Examples of woody weeds found in Australia include wilgas, willows, yellow bells, yellow box and zamia palms.

Broadleaf Weeds – Easily identified in pasture and residential lawns, broadleaf weeds generally have wider leaves and are softer to touch when compared to their counterparts. While common examples include clovers, scotch, thistle, and bindis, broadleaf weeds are well known invaders thanks to their large number of seeds.

Grass Types – You might be looking at different types of grass weeds regularly, without even realising that they are actually unwelcome invaders. Easily identifiable grass weeds found in many Australian backyards include crowsfoot, crabgrass and nutgrass. While they often blend into a pasture or lawn, it doesn’t take much for them to get a firm footing.

How To Combat Common Weeds

Now that you are armed with the knowledge on how to identify common weeds, an organic way to combat them can be by using a product like Bioweed – known as a “healthy way to spray”. As a chemical free pesticide solution, Bioweed doesn’t need to translocate around the weed’s internal system like other conventional pesticides, so you may see radically different results.

Bioweed works by breaking down the waxy layer on the plant cuticle, which is what the cell wall is made up off – and is traditionally quite hard to access. It has been proven to combat over 200 invasive weeds found in Australia, without endangering your property’s residential animals (or people).

Bioweed agronomist (and horse enthusiast) Logan Brown actively uses the product on her property, and loves the convenience of not having to move her livestock or keep an eye on her dogs when spraying.

“My advice for using Bioweed would be to ensure that if you’re controlling taller broadleaf weeds, try and slash them before applying the Bioweed. It will make sure you get full coverage of the plant, and ensure you get the best results quickly and economically.”

Want to know more about eliminating your weeds – pesticide free? Check out other tips and tricks in our online advice forum, or contact us for any further queries.