Serrated Tussock taking over?

Hmmm…and if the cane toad army turns left at Western Australia, then the evil plant alliance could be caught in a three-way pincer – sure victory for the animal kingdom.
Cheered on from the eaves by the chattering of the invading Asian House Geckos, already on the march southwards from Brisbane.
Muhahahahah

Bigfeet if you, as the chosen one, could get the warring carp and rabbit armies to unite against the common foe of the Blue-Green/Tussocks alliance we might have a chance.

I think we are missing the bigger picture here.

I have heard rumours that our aquatic chlorophyllic overlords are already in secret negotiations with their terrestrial brethren to form an alliance.

If the Blue-Green and the Tussocks ever combine their considerable forces then we may as well kiss our arses goodbye.

The “pink” is just dye you put in, so you know which weeds you’ve hit. You usually put in your poison, some wetting agent (detergeant) and some pink stuff. And then some water.

African Lovegrass is becoming almost as big a problem here, and Canberra is full of it (they planted the bloody stuff), so Serrated might also be rife there. Serrated is quite decorative, and grows literally anywhere, droughts don’t seem to bother it.

Just moved out of palmerston a few months back – after being there since “93 and I recall seeing the act govt spray operators liberally coating each side of the footpaths and bike tracks and roundabouts with pink weed killer at least once a month for at least 2 years – is serrated tussock is that much of a problem in Palmerston?

ant said :

Terrible stuff, stock can’t eat it and if they do, it’s like eating paper. No nutritional value. Tehy’ve found cattle that’ve starved to death, with stomachs full of the stuff. Very invasive, a very successful weed.

Because it has such low digestibility, it gradually forms a solid wad inside their stomach – blocks the works up and prevents them eating anything better that comes along.

Interestingly, many local governments put a pink colouring in when spraying it, so they know where they’ve done. …in case you wonder what’s going on with the pink grass sometime.

Not a bad way to stop it seeding, but it wouldn’t do teh cattle any good, and it wouldn’t kill it, either.

I heard on Landline that at least one grazier sprayed his liberally with molasses, his cattle ate it with gusto.

It’s notoriously hard to ID serrated from other tussock grasses. I took some tufts into Primary Industry in Qbn a while back, and at first they thought they were indeed Serrated, I had doubts, so they got their agronomist in, and he said it was Poa Tussock. But now I can tell which of mine are Serrated, I have a few. This time of year they’re the only thing not eaten down, and look like bushy blond hair from a 80s hair metal band. So i spray the heck out of them.

The council weeds bloke is pleased with my efforts, and reckons there’s whole properties around Bredbo with big For Sale signs on, that are completely Serrated tussock.

Terrible stuff, stock can’t eat it and if they do, it’s like eating paper. No nutritional value. Tehy’ve found cattle that’ve starved to death, with stomachs full of the stuff. Very invasive, a very successful weed.

And the big problem, as with all weeds, is landowners who don’t control it, it seeds, and everyone cops it.

Two million hectares is roughly the size of all of Wales, or, ten times the size of the entire ACT.