Phoenix palms

This month’s pest plant is the phoenix palm.  Now on the list of plants banned from sale or propagation, this is a very large palm with thick trunk and spiny leaves, creamy flowers and abundant date-like seeds. There are quite a few near the Sanctuary and birds like the fruit so we’re keen to stop…

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Get rid of ginger

While some types of ginger can look nice in your garden you’ll regret having any of the ‘wild’ gingers. Yellow ginger and kahili ginger were both introduced as garden plants but they quickly form dense and impenetrable mats of rhizomes which smother anything else. In the wild these can grow to a metre deep and…

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Pampas Grass

Pampas grass is our featured pest plant this month, because right now its seed heads are evident everywhere in our district.   The plants form large grassy clumps with a dead leaf base. Its erect and bushy flower heads are quite attractive and easily recognised, emerging  January to March, but unfortunately they are prolific producers of seeds which then blow…

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Woolly Nightshade

This month’s pest plant is Woolly Nightshade, also known as tobacco plant or flannel plant because its leaves have a velvety texture .  It has dense clusters of purple flowers, green or yellow berries about 1cm in size and oval, grey-green leaves. It is a major problem because its seeds are spread by birds, it colonises readily and it…

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Banish boneseed

This month’s pest plant is boneseed, also known as salt bush. Originally brought in as an ornamental from South Africa, it proved to be a pest (surprise!) because it readily colonises dry areas and soon prevents anything else from growing. This poses a threat to our coastal vegetation. Young plants have soft pale green leaves,…

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No more moth plants

So far we’ve done well at keeping pest animals out of the sanctuary, but unfortunately the pest weeds are not so easily deterred. So this year we’re asking you to help manage the most invasive weeds along the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. With the assistance of Hibiscus Matters and Auckland Council Biosecurity we’ll be highlighting a different…

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The rat family tree

The sanctuary is back to its pest-free state and DNA testing has been completed on the 26 Norway rats caught a few months back. With the aid of some earlier profiling of the genetics of rats in the Auckland region it was then possible to work out where our invaders had come from. Luckily the…

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Have you seen a bulbul?

The destructive and aggressive red-vented bulbul has now been seen in several parts of Auckland, including our Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Evidently they like nice gardens and compost heaps, especially one with food scraps. If you see one please record the time and place, take a photo if you can and call Biosecurity on 0800 80 99…