Groups kept busy clearing land of unwanted plants

The warm weather and rain may be great for the garden, but summer is also keeping conservation groups busy with getting rid of unwanted plants.

Horizons Regional Council has been giving out broom handles infested with gall mite, to help fight against broom.

Horizons pest plant coordinator Craig Davey said broom was a chronic problem for pasture growth.

He said some areas, such as steeper hill country, were not easily sprayed.

However, the broom gall mite, a microscopic mite that eats broom only, was doing a good job at controlling the weed.

‘‘These mites create big ugly galls, or growths, on the plant, which stunts growth and eventually kills it,’’ Davey said.

‘‘This is due to the plant sending all of its energy into fighting the galls instead of actually growing.’’

The mites struggled to move from plant to plant, hence the need to give out broom handles to put on plants, he said.

People can contact Horizons to be put on a waiting list to get the mite.

Conservationists are also hard at work trying to eliminate wilding pines from the Ruahine Forest Park.

Wilding pines are introduced conifers that spread through selfseeding, with seeds travelling in the wind.

Department of Conservation acting Manawatu¯ operations manager Nicole Sutton said it was a huge tasking getting rid of wilding pines, which were covering 5 per cent more land every year.

The plants sucked water from catchments, killed indigenous vegetation and added costs to farming, she said.