Pesky little weeds

By Beatrice Hawkins

Recently, some friends told me about a weed that had just appeared out of nowhere in their garden and yard and was a real pest. In the years they had lived at their current address, they had never seen it and then suddenly it was everywhere and really took some controlling.

They didn’t want to spray and had had a hard time pulling/digging them up as they had long tap roots.

They told me it was called “goat’s beard” so good old Google came in handy again and we looked it up.

What initially came up under that name was not what we were looking for. It was a quite pretty white flowered plant not unlike Astilbe with small white flowers. It appears to be something that would look wonderful in a garden and a flower arrangement and is described as a clump-forming perennial to about a metre high with fern-like foliage and white feathery flowers. Sounds great and looks quite lovely in the photos.

This was not what my friends had problems with though! The source of their concern looked more like an overgrown dandelion with very large puffball seed heads similar to a dandelion but a dandelion on steroids!

When we finally found it on Google I recognised it from colder areas and was surprised to find it had surfaced here. They do use a lot of manure from a feedlot on their gardens and my only suggestion was that stock from southern areas had eaten the weed before being taken into the feedlot and the seeds had come through in the manure.

The botanical name is “tragopogon dubius” and it certainly is of dubious benefit! It is native to Europe and was taken to America in the 1900s as a garden plant. I guess that is also how it arrived in this country. So many things that have now become pests did arrive this way – St. John’s wort, prickly pear and blackberries, just to name a few! In another life, I have been involved in time-consuming and expensive control of some of these.

In areas around the hills behind Perth, even a beautiful, deep purple, variety of lavender, has become a pest and grows prolifically on roadsides. As always the definition of a weed is “a plant out of place” and that becomes very true if we are not careful in our gardening and especially careful in disposing of garden waste. Never, ever, dump rubbish in the bush or on roadsides!

We have so many beautiful natives in this country it is shameful to me to see our bush taken over by introduced species. Driving over Cunningham’s Gap I am appalled to see some sort of climber completely covering banks and climbing trees to the exclusion of all else. I have no idea what it is, but the weeds board/council/main roads – someone in authority certainly needs to attend to it, if it is not already too late to bring it under control.

After that diversion, back to Goat’s Beard as found on my friend’s property. It has a yellow flower similar to a dandelion, is commonly known in other parts as yellow salsify, is frost hardy, grows to about 1 metre tall, with a thick stem and very deep tap root. The very large seed heads are obviously how it is dispersed as they would readily blow in, and be carried distances by, the wind. It is reportedly naturalised in the Cooma and Kosciusko areas and this is where I had seen it. I am glad my friends were, and are diligent in removing this pest.

It does seem to have been used in traditional medicine in different cultures for a wide range of problems from coyote bites (a real problem in Australia) to boils, sore throats and internal injuries in horses!

Definitely more medical research is needed before use!

After all the negative discussion I must admit that my lovely granddaughter, down in the Monaro region, really loved the puffballs. So even though I consider them a pest and invasive species I still have a soft spot for them and can appreciate the big round see heads.

With the threat of frosts almost gone I hope you are enjoying getting outside and planning ahead. The geraniums in my neighbour’s backyard are putting on a beautiful show. I hope they are going to enter their garden in the competition in October!

Another garden in my area, which won the festival category last year, has been pruned and tidied and mulched… hope they are also planning on entering again this year.

Keep the competition in mind as you enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and exercise that gardening gives.

There is a category for every garden and entry forms will be available from Bryson’s on Palmerin Street.