Today I felt like I needed to help out Piha in some aspect and get myself involved into the community and conservation aspect as well. So today with some community members and Thomas we helped spray an invasive plant along the roads.
Tradescantia fluminensis "Wandering jew or Wandering willy"
Its a very fast growing succulent groundcover. Extremely difficult to get rid of as it spreads by vegetative means, any fragment of it and it begins to grow again. It grows particularly well along roadsides as this is where the mowers come and shorten the growth not realizing it is spreading Wandering willy like wildfire.
There is no really good way to control its growth or its spread, however you can destroy it and give other plants a chance to grow and at least establish and compete with it. Luckily here in Piha the Council gives native plants to locals for free so the idea is, use a Roundup type chemical to kill the Wandering willy and then replant the area with native plants.
All in all I think its a better idea then doing nothing but I suppose we will see the effect it has in time. The areas that were treated the year before seem to be doing pretty well so maybe it is a viable way of invasive species control?
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