Experts warn a lack of regulation in the garden industry is seeing weedy plants, that can easily be bought in nurseries or online, ‘suffocate’ our native waterways and bushland, with urgent calls for action to prevent more irreversible damage.

The call follows a recent decision by Federal Minister for Environment Tanya Plibersek to take action by developing a national plan to tackle escaped garden plants and aquatic weeds.

This move, which was supported by all state and territory Environment Ministers, has been welcomed by the Invasive Species Council.

Escaped garden plants are the primary source of new weeds in Australia.

Weeds have already contributed to at least four Australian extinctions, and the majority of these invasive plants have yet to reach their full potential spread.

They also cost the agriculture industry over $4.3 billion annually.

Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough said Australians know that weeds like lantana or blackberries are choking our streams and bushland.

“But what many people don’t realise is that their own garden or fish pond could be a ticking time bomb,” he said.

“Plants like English ivy, Amazon frogbit or pretty gazanias that they’ve bought legally at a local nursery or online could get into the local environment and take over.”

Mr Gough said an incredible three-quarters of all listed weeds in Australia are escaped garden plants and every year the problem gets worse.

“But this isn’t a Bunnings problem, or an individual nursery or weedy plant species problem, it’s an industry-wide problem,” he said.

“To date, self-regulation has failed. It depends too much on gardeners or individual nurseries to do the right thing.”

‘We are relying on everyday Australians to either have a botany degree or to pay close attention to the warnings in the fine print of plant labels to stop their gardens becoming a ticking time bomb. That’s a system designed to fail.”

This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 18 July 2024.