This is one scary weed indeed!  If you are not familiar with Bridal Creeper, please, do your local landscape a favour and get to know it. Bridal Creeper (Asparagus asparagoides) is a Weed of National Significance; it’s a very aggressive and highly invasive plant capable of smothering out native ground flora and shrubs. The plant can be very difficult to control once established so early detection and treatment is vital.

On a recent site visit, North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Kyneton Woodlands Project Officer, Ian Higgins, was stopped in his tracks when he noticed a Bridal Creeper plant on a roadside surrounded by natural vegetation. Ian dug up the small Bridal Creeper plant of around 100cm in height, and discovered a staggering 15 kg of root mass!   Only days prior on the same roadside, Ian was delighted to discover the nationally endangered Matted Flax-lily (Dianella amoena). Thanks to Ian’s quick action in removing the Bridal Creeper, the population of the Matted Flax-lily is now a little less endangered.   

Ian said herbicide application can control Bridal Creeper but repeated applications are usually necessary as it often re-emerges from dormant underground tubers the following growing season. “In the case of small infestations or individual plants, one of the best treatment methods is to dig out the root mat by hand, being careful to gather all the prickly tubers that would re-shoot if left in the ground. The extracted material must be placed in a black garbage bag (or similar) and left out in a sunny spot to ‘cook’ the tubers. After 2-3 months, dispose of this material through the local government kerbside collection or take it to the rubbish tip for deep burial. Do not compost or mulch root material as fragments can re-shoot. The root mass is around 90% of the biomass of the whole plant, so it can be a bigger than expected task, but it is worth the effort when you see what the plant is capable of when left to its own devices,” said Ian.

Chairman of the Baynton Sidonia Landcare Group Bob Gray, said “It’s important to jump on this weed right away if you locate it. But do be careful to identify and kill the right plant. Bridal Creeper looks somewhat similar to the Indigenous Small-leaved Clematis (Clematis microphylla), which is present the region.”

Surprisingly, Bridal Creeper is still a reasonably common garden plant, particularly around older homesteads, Ian said.  “As the main dispersal method is via the berries eaten by birds and deposited elsewhere, this is a real worry. If you know someone with Bridal Creeper in their garden, why not have a little chat and suggest a Small-leaved Clematis as a replacement?  We all need to help share the knowledge and reduce the spread of this highly invasive weed.”

If you are interested in protecting and enhancing remnant grassy woodlands on your property north of Kyneton, please call the North Central CMA on 5448 1824 or visit www.nccma.vic.gov.au to find out more.

For further information please contact: 

Communications Officer, North Central CMA
PO Box 18, Huntly VIC 3551

t: 03 5448 7124
e: info@nccma.vic.gov.au