‘Disaster’: Warning over common plant

Bunnings has been urged to ban a popular garden item after fears it could destroy the Australian landscape if its were to spread.

It may appear as a beautiful garden plant, seen across homes, in backyards and cafes, and sold at Bunnings and other nurseries, but English Ivy, also known as a Hedera Helix, may become a threat to the Australian landscape if it escapes ands cause irreversible damage.

The invasive plant, which is considered a weed in Australia, has fast-growing roots that can easily spread across surfaces like walls and fences and clogging waterways, strangling native trees and bushland around it.

Jack Gough, acting CEO of Invasive Species Council, said it was “disappointing” to see retailers like Bunnings sell the plant, considering its potential environmental impact.

“English Ivy is growing over fences and walls and is choking and smothering trees and taking over ground covering bushland,” he told Yahoo News. “I think most Australians would be horrified to know that the plants that they could go and pick up (from a nursery) could actually be an environmental disaster.”

The council is also trying to push a ban on other plants including the Amazon frogbit, a floating aquatic weed that grows incredibly quickly, blocking waterways, irrigation channels and hinder a native plant’s growth.

The gazania, another pretty-but-dangerous daisy plant from South Africa, is considered a “very high” risk weed that can tamper with soil, preventing other natives from growing in the same area. Every year, nearly $5b is spent on controlling weeds in Australia, with farmers forking out $3.8 billion a year to keep the noxious plants under control.

The council are renewing their push to ban the noxious plant from sale across stores like Bunnings, which have been assessed as “high weed potential”, urging the public to sign a petition for better regulation of the sale of “weedy plants”.

Without regulation, Gough warned “so many Australian backyards are actually ticking time bombs” for the planet.

“Consumers want to buy a range of plants for their garden. That’s fine,” Gough said.

“And there’s a sort of a thought philosophy that anything goes and unfortunately, what that means is that the expectation is on Australians who want to do the right thing.”

The solution to creating a richer and more diverse landscape is giving the public better access to native plants, “which are more appropriate and endemic to Aussie gardens”.

Cam Rist, director of merchandise at Bunnings, told Yahoo News the retailer “closely follows all relevant local biosecurity regulations and the advice of regulators about the plants we sell”.

“Like many nurseries and retailers, we sell a wide range of locally sourced plants across our stores and we work hard to create an assortment that caters to customer preferences and demand,” he said.

Customers are encouraged to read the information printed on the label before buying it for their garden.