"Also vehicles, people, animals, they're very efficient in spreading the seed as well and as a consequence it's certainly headed out on roadways, tracks, animal pads, you name it," Mr Foster said. "Imagine an accumulation of 50,000 seeds in the soil and you've got a problem," research officer Kate McArthur said. "This plant has a very good process for survival, it puts out over 250,000 seeds per mature plant, it has a viability of about 80-90 years in the soil and when it's close to a waterway like this one it'll drop the seed into the water and there it goes, downstream and the problem begins," David Foster of Parks Victoria said. But the plant does not set seed in its first year, so curbing these young plants is critical. In a good season mature broom will flower twice in a year. "Yes, yes it is, get on top of it while it's small and easy to operate, walk around and through," Mr Gray said. "So really it's crucial to act now?" Mr Lee asked. "Yes, as thick as the hairs on a dog's back in places, and if it grows back it'll be impenetrable," spraying contractor Andrew Gray said. "Is it as thick as you've ever seen?" reporter Tim Lee asked. The fires cleared the under story and the invader is thriving on the bare ground. Broom is a legume and fire germinates its seed. Bushfires in southern Australia that summer burnt some 1.5 million hectares, but few areas burnt so hot as here. In January 2002, the worst bushfires in 60 years roared through these mountains. "We'll probably never have it under control but it'll be an on-going thing for probably the rest of our lives," Mr Batty said. Bill Batty, who has watched its spread with almost disbelief, has no illusions about the task at hand. The pioneers talked of how the plant's robust branches were made into brooms to sweep the dirt floors of cottages. That's where it expanded from," Mr Batty said. Most private residences had a plant in their garden. "When I was a kid there were a couple of plants in the school yard here at the Glen. "We went flying over Lake Dartmouth today and up along the Mitta River and looking at the levels of the broom infestations along there it's pretty disturbing," Mr Dower said. Mr Dower must unite private and public landholders in a common fight. Halting the spread of this vigorous weed falls largely on the shoulders of Mr Dower. "The plant in this particular area was recorded in the school ground around the turn of the century, now what we're faced with along the Mitta River is infestations from this point where it's escaped from gardens into Lake Dartmouth." "The plant's believed to have sourced in this Glen Wills area around the turn of the century as a garden plant and ornamental plant in a variety of areas," Mike Dower of Parks Victoria said. "It was dormant for a few years then it sort of acclimatised and now it's just gone wild," farmer, Bill Batty said.Įnglish broom is yet another garden escapee turned pest plant and it is running rampant downstream from head waters in the Alpine National Park. You'll see it along the rivers certainly and it's obviously spread by water, you'll see it in open grazing land and you'll see it on dry sites, it doesn't seem to known any boundaries," Geoff Harman, from the Department of Primary Industries, said. "English broom, it seems to grow anywhere, anywhere it can get a toe hold. To the locals, it is a most vexing problem. To the unknowing tourist, it is a majestic sight. As thawing snow swells the rivers, nesting birds burst into song and plants into flower, and the valley beneath Mt Bogong is garlanded with a vibrant yellow shrub. The warmth of spring transforms Victoria's high country. Landholders face fight to contain English invader
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