[Pil-pc-oceania] Tim Low: Melb Sept 28th: Talk re invasive species

[Kerry Dawborn]

Personally I think it's good to manage weeds and exotics in areas near 
bushland carefully - if you are using them in your system then take 
appropriate measures to prevent them from spreading - yes, they tend to 
enter land that is already damaged but perhaps we do not need to put 
more pressure through competition on native species of plants and 
animals than we already have, through competition and in other ways. 
That said, as others have pointed out, if they tend to invade land that 
is already degraded to some extent, and they do not necessarily just 
grow anywhere - ie: they may grow where there are deficiencies in the 
soil etc - they may be nature's way of healing problems with soil etc. 
So are they the problem or are they a symptom of a wider issue? I lean 
towards the latter. Of course one cannot generalise and there may be 
some plants whose impacts when they spread to vulnerable bushland, are 
more damaging than healing, at least at first. So perhaps we need a 
'middle road' approach of some kind. For me, I can never come at the use 
of biocides - it seems completely counterintuitive to try to promote 
life in one element of a system by using a 'life-killer', by definition, 
on another element. I think conventional thinking on this issue 
seriously oversimplifies the issues. Moreover, it seems bizarre to me 
for permies to be blamed for exotics escaping to wilder areas when so 
many of the ordinary plants frequently used in conventional gardens 
escape into neighbouring bushland and reclamation areas (in my area 
local reveg areas abound with agapanthis, nasturtium, ivy, wandering 
jew, etc).

In my own urban garden I do not 'weed'; I harvest chook and duck food, 
mulch and compost materials. I am extremely grateful to all the 
'volunteer' plants that bless my garden....

cheers,

Kerry



tamara griffiths wrote:
> Around here, permies are THE cause of weeds and we are frowned upon by lots 
> of the Landcare and environmental people.
>
> We were also on the grassy knoll. I am sick of it, to tell the truth.
>
> I am reading Peter Andrews "Back from the Brink" and there is a very good 
> chapter in there on weeds - they are our friends, we slash them regularly 
> and they give us fertility. He also says that the belief that weeds are just 
> waiting to infest every piece of land is just nonsense - they obviously 
> haven't. (I am reading him in conjunction with PA Yeomans and am enjoying 
> the thoughts I am having).
>
> Geoff Lawton is a huge fan of weeds - he calls them fast carbon pathways. 
> Bill just keeps mowing them. So do I! I love the things.
>
> I think that weeds are always there for a reason. They show us lots of 
> things about the soil and its amount of damage and they grow us lots of 
> mulch. For free.
>
> The permaculture adage that "The problem is the solution" is really 
> important when we look at weeds. "How do I get rid of blackberries" is such 
> a common question on the forums it makes me want to scream.
>
> And, using poison on weeds is in fact massive microbe murder and wrong wrong 
> wrong.
>
> Tamara
>
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