An historic country graveyard in rural Te Uku has become an unlikely battleground in a committed Raglan-based environmental group’s fight against privet.
A small squad of volunteer workers from Whaingaroa Weedbusters, backed by double the number of Anglican parishioners, have mounted a joint exercise to clear the roadside St Paul’s Cemetery of invasive and noxious plant species.
“Still more work to do but a huge leap forward,” is how church-goer Sue Kendall described the recent working bee. “We got heaps done, all the big trees poisoned and lots of little ones cut and pasted, or pulled out.”
Parishioners had been angsting over the privet and how much would have to come out of their coffers to get the mature trees cut down when a chance encounter at an informal church gathering with Weedbusters co-founder Leanne Steel – a bit of serendipity, as Sue put it – led to “a much better solution”.
That was to call in the Weedbusters, who coincidentally had already spotted the cemetery’s enclave of overgrown trees from the top of the divvy.
Whaingaroa Weedbusters have been tackling privet and other noxious weeds with a vengeance since Covid times – along the highway, up driveways, in the Greenslade Rd area and all through the Kaitoke bush track, which has undergone a dramatic transformation.
A similar transformation is now happening at St Paul’s 119-year-old graveyard where, only two weeks on, a carpet of fallen leaves covers the ground and daylight floods in through the bare branches.
And all it cost the concerned parishioners was a couple of hours of time spent drilling and filling, cutting and pasting on site.
Leanne – who recently revitalised the volunteer organisation – says she was “very excited” to get the call for help.
She and three fellow Weedbusters arrived at the cemetery with multiple drills, handsaws, herbicides and gardening gloves to distribute among the church’s group of eight, all keen to help fight the good fight against privet.
After showing her proteges how first to identify the species by its smooth-edged leaves with tiny white bumps on the stems, Leanne explained how to “drill and fill” around the base of each of the three big tree trunks with liquid glyphosate sucked up through a large syringe.
The herbicide is then squirted into the “angled” drill holes made about 10cm apart all the way around the girth of the tree at ground level. And while it is absorbed into the root system, Leanne pointed out, the poison doesn’t actually spread into the surrounding soil.
But for the saplings which had taken hold near the mature privet, she explained how to “cut” them close to the ground with a handsaw then thickly “paste” the freshly cut surface with a herbicide gel.
As with undiluted glyphosate the gel gets absorbed into the plant’s root system, preventing regrowth.
Leanne’s multiple funding applications to Waikato Regional Council have helped pay for the herbicides and tools she shares around in the fight against weeds.
The Waikato Ecological Enhancement Trust has also provided ongoing support including supplying contractors to help Weedbusters with their drilling and filling, cutting and pasting, on steeper less accessible parts of the Kaitoke track for instance.
And last year Meridian Energy New Zealand gave money to replace pest plants with native trees.
Closer to home Raglan Food Co recently came up with $2000 from its community fund to support an “awesome” local group. “Whaingaroa Weedbusters are doing incredible mahi,” it posted online, “and with our support they’ve been able to get new tools and resources to help power their mission.”
Power Weed Control in Hamilton – a family business owned by local resident Trevor Power – also encourages the Weedbusters’ work with free supplies of herbicides.
A nurse working part-time in the mental health service, Leanne’s passionate about saving New Zealand’s “unique biodiversity” – by starting in our own backyards.
“These days this is where my heart lies,” she says. “I like to look after nature.”
For help email whaingaroaweedbusters@gmail.com
