Council booting Boxthorn with puller loan scheme
Wakefield Regional Council is working with landowners to manage African Boxthorn, an invasive bush threatening our local agriculture industries and natural areas, by establishing a Boxthorn puller loan scheme.
Cameron Watson, a Landscape Officer with the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board said Boxthorn is a highly invasive species which commonly infests well drained soils, invades farmland, roadsides, native vegetation and waterways, all prevalent in the Wakefield Regional Council area.
“It’s a spiny bush that can grow in large thickets, creating a safe haven for pest animals, limiting access to land and congesting waterways,” Mr Watson said. “The large spines can cause injury to livestock and prevent stock access to areas of refuge and feed.”
“The Landscape SA Act 2019 requires landowners to control Boxthorn on their properties luckily there are a number of control methods available to landowners to achieve this.”
Pictured: Boxthorn puller in action.
To support landowners, Council has purchased a heavy-duty Boxthorn puller – able to fit to most modern front-end loaders – available for loan for up to two weeks.
The puller fits to a front end loader to pull the Boxthorn, including its deep roots, completely out from the ground, avoiding the chances of regeneration and the need for herbicide use and minimising the impact on surrounding vegetation.
“When dealing with Boxthorn it is absolutely vital to target mature plants to stop the spread of seed and continue to control new germinations in the following years,” Mr Watson said. “While using a puller you must take care not to inadvertently spread the seed.”
Council purchased the puller with the Federal Government’s Combating Weeds funding to hire out the specialised attachment to landowners.
Wakefield Mayor Rodney Reid said Boxthorn was among the problematic weeds in local landowners and environment authorities’ sights.
“It’s important we take action to protect our region from the economic and environmental impacts we know are caused by Boxthorn – and this is a fantastic combined effort from landowners, environmental experts and Council,” Mayor Reid said.
To request to hire, complete the online enquiry form
Questions about hiring should be directed to Council’s Public Services Coordinator, Glen Growden on 8862 0800 and for help identifying Boxthorn, contact the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board at the Clare office on 8841 3444.