I am looking for some advice on how best to get rid of lantana that is growing at the back of our garden. the problem is that we have a rockface at the back of our garden that at the top goes to our back neighbours gardens. This rock face is is probably about 12-15 meters high (sorry not really good at guessing heights of things but would be higher than a double story house) and it is this rock face that the lantana is growing on /down. Our outside ladder would only allow us to reach the very bottom of the lantana. Part of when it starts is also inaccessible from out land! (I hope explaned what is looks like clearly enough).
Does anyone have any ideas who we could look at spraying this so that it dies. Its quite thick and covers quite a bit of the rockface already - some of which is on their land and some ours. Given the difficulty accessing the rockface I would think it should all be removed rather than us removing/killing the part that is growing on our rock!
i don't know if there would be some sort of industrial type weed killer I could hire from Oliver Hire or a similar type of hire place?
I teach bush regeneration and Lantana is extremely easy to kill. DO NOT SPRAY a large bush, the spray will drift and kill everything in its path.
The best method to use is cut and paint. You cut the plant back using a small saw, lopper or secateurs, then cut the stump off at the base and apply Glyphosate 360g/L. This is a very “safe” herbicide and is widely available in hardware shops and supermarkets under a variety of brand names (round-up being the most commonly known brand). It is very important to get the correct concentration, it must be 360g/L. You apply it to the cut stump within a minute (or so) of cutting it, just paint a bit on with a paint brush.
As a bush regenerator and teacher, I LOVE Lantana, it is just the best weed you can possibly have in the bush. It is extremely stable, it just sits there doing nothing, it really only invades disturbed bushland, undisturbed bushland is quite resistant to Lantana invasion. It is an excellent barrier around the edges of reserves and stops much worse weeds (such as vines and herbaceous grasses) from invading good bush. It is excellent habit for small birds, and when you do decide you want to get rid of it is it extremely quick and easy to remove. You just cut and paint and it’s gone. Time and time again I see large areas of Lantana cleared, habitat for native fauna destroyed and much, much worse weeds invade good bush. I have gone so far as to suggest we actually plant Lantana on the edges of our bushland. Please no Lantana bashing in my presence!
I just read you OP more closely. Hmmmm.... in bushland management, when Lantana is growing out of rock faces like that, we use specialist abseiling bush regeneration teams. I know you said you could only reach just the bottom bit of it with a ladder, could you get any further with a pole pruner, of course then getting the herbicide on the cut stump is extremely difficult. I still wouldn’t advise spraying it, it’s just too dangerous in terms of creating spray drift. Can you access the top section of it from your neighbours place?
Epacris its that spray drift that we were concerned about as we quite like what we have put into the garden below and don't really want to kill! Tis is why we haven't done anything so far. We can approach neighbours but there is an another little potential issue with their property that we are going to have to manage with them at the moment so I don't want to cloud getting that sorted by asking for this access. (Other issue is dead trees on their property which are dropping potentially lethal branches into our garden). Even if this wasnt happening I think we would still have the same problem about being able to paint the stumps except this time we would be trying to come down rather than going up. And not sure how we would anchor off absailing ropes from their garden!
Guess what I am trying to find is a way of at least containing it so it doesn't take over the entire rockface. Its beautiful Sydney sandstone and forms lovely backdrop to the garden so maybe pruning back might be the way to go. Won't remove all of it but will keep it under control.
You mentioned that Glyphosate 360g/L is a safe herbicide but I guess that doesn't mean that it won't kill anything else that it lands on? If we were to gain access from the top and sprayed the roots of the top of where the lantana starts would the herbicide seep down the rock face to kill off the lower roots?
When I say safe herbicide, I mean safe for animals, it is absolutely not safe at all for plants! If it touches any part of any plant it will be taken into the plant’s system and translocated around killing it. Yes, the herbicide will be absorbed if sprayed at the base of the plant, killing that plant, but it will only kill the plants it touches, as soon as it hits soil it binds to the soil particles and becomes inert.
Cutting the Lantana back and keeping it under control is an excellent management option. You also need to consider that when you remove Lantana something else will take its place. That could be more Lantana, or something possibly even worse than Lantana. And it is probably providing fantastic habitat for small birds and reptiles.
You are on the Northern Beaches I see. Many, Warringah and Pittwater Councils all have huge and excellent volunteer Bushcare programs. I would call your Council and ask to speak to the Bushcare Officer. Tell them your situation and ask them for advice. They may be able to help you directly or indirectly by offering you some basic Bushcare training. I think they may even be some sort of escarpment management plan that you may be able to link into. That escarpment is really important habitat and I’m sure there’s some sort of management plan for it.
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How to get rid of lantana
If it touches any part of any plant it will be taken into the plant’s system and translocated around killing it. Yes, the herbicide will be absorbed if sprayed at the base of the plant, killing that plant, but it will only kill the plants it touches, as soon as it hits soil it binds to the soil particles and becomes inert.
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