Section 3. Control Methods - Weeds Australia

Case study
Dealing with hazardous weedy climbers in Queensland rainforests
Alan Carter, Strategic Weed Control and Vegetation Management, Queensland
Climbing vines can be a hazard when doing weed control. A pole hedge trimmer is a useful tool
to cut vines away from trees and is much faster than using a machete or secateurs. Low branches
or other obstructing vegetation can be trimmed back quickly to give safe access to your site and
reduce the number of anchor points available for climbers to attach to.
Cut vines as high as possible and let long vines drop to the ground for later spraying. In the case
of climbing asparagus weeds, the crowns can then be readily accessed and treated by gouge and
paint methods or basal barking. For other weedy vines, follow-up using a selective herbicide to
help ferns, grasses, sedges, palms and other monocots re-establish while you continue to control
any regrowth. Plants including Commelina diffusa, Poa labillardieri and species of Oplismenus and
Ottochloa establish readily and keep some annual weeds at bay between follow-up treatments.
Techniques for glyphosate that can reduce off-target damage include:
• trimming the trigger on the spray bottle to prevent it getting caught on things and squirting
accidently, and
• applying thread tape to the nozzle screw, preventing drips onto the trigger. This also allows a
nice straight laminar jet that can reach the crown or stump without having to get on your hands
and knees. But always squirt gently, as close as possible and using only as much chemical as the
stump or crown will absorb.
This technique can also be readily used for all other woody weeds that are encountered on a site.
For most vines (except Madeira vine Anredera cordifolia), laboriously cutting and treating large
individual stems with herbicide is usually less work in the long run rather than repeatedly spraying
regrowth of untreated cut stems.
‘I nearly always carry hand secateurs and a
modified 500 mL trigger spray on a belt holster
when I'm working.’
Alan Carter
Alan Carter
Cutting back vines using a pole hedge trimmer
Trigger spray and belt holder
61