A game bunch of Hurunui Weedbusters returned to the Waipara River on Saturday 12 April, to follow up the scoping excursion a larger group of us enjoyed in January.

Our mission this time involved more grunt and less gawp, but was equally enjoyable on a fine autumn day in awesome surroundings. Our mission was to poison large sycamores on the river banks downstream of the gorge, and to root out their prolific offspring scattered widely around. Other trees we dealt to included wild cherry and pine. The extensive blanket of old man’s beard was beyond us, excepting the rescue from its chokehold of a few large cabbage trees that we couldn’t leave to their fate.

Miles and Gillian Giller demonstrated the ‘drill and fill’ technique of injecting glyphosate around the base of a tree trunk, so that when the tree dies its eventual fall causes less damage to surrounding bush.

We were guided by locals Kate McMillan and Francois Bonny, who showed us where to cross the river and negotiate the tangle of scrub to reach the target trees. Our morning’s effort concluded with a picnic kindly provided by Kate. We reflected on how, when confronted by such rampant weeds, to stay positive by doing what strategic damage control we can. The demise of a number of large sycamores was definitely a satisfying achievement that will slow their spread, giving at least some of the struggling natives along the river a fighting chance.

Hurunui Weedbusters’ next working bee is on May 10 at Hanmer Springs to help with a wetland recovery project. For more information or to join our volunteers contact: Belinda Meares, [email protected] or Rima Herber, [email protected]