"Chookie" wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-D5BC50.10303026032003@news...
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

On a new property I have a serious weed problem. The place is: warm
temperate, about 1200mm (48in) annual rainfall, deep heavy fertile
soil,
on a river bank. Down by the river there are trees growing along
the
banks quite densely, producing shade and part shade.

Here I have small leaf privet (ligustrum sinense) and wandering jew
(tradscantia fulminensis) both noxious weeds, going rampant after
the
recent rains.

The information I have read on bush regeneration suggests that you
should work
in from a less-weedy spot to the more-weedy areas, and replant as you
move in
so that the weeds have competition.

Yes that's the plan.

You're going to need local native plants
for this, and probably quite a lot of them

True

-- how long is your piece of river
bank?

The actual river bank segment is only about 70 metres long but there are
several little gullies and billabongs that are also infested. I haven't
yet measured the full area but it will be something like 300-400 m long
and 5-10 m wide. As I said it will take years.

Landcare can probably help. As it's a river bank, erosion is also an
issue if you go mad with defoliation... Good luck!

I will indeed be joining the local landcare group. Whether we use
physical removal or spray (or both) will depend on the situation. I
will not be going mad with defoliation unless I can also go mad with
replacement plants.

David