Are you a landholder who diligently controls the horrible Wheel Cactus that appears on your property? It’s hard, yet satisfying work, but thankfully over time requires less effort to keep on top of new plants that reappear. Your efforts not only help rehabilitate our beautiful native environment but will also increase the resale value of the land, if you ever choose to sell.
Do you gaze over the fence at a neighbour’s property and feel frustrated when you see plenty of Wheel Cactus not being controlled, even though they are a declared noxious weed in Victoria? The seeds from these cacti are of course most likely reinfesting your property.
There could be many reasons people are not controlling Wheel Cactus on their land. They maybe:
- are largely absentee landholders
- haven’t really given Wheel Cactus much thought
- have really busy lives and no free time
- have other priorities including health or family
- have financial issues and limitations
- don’t really care about Wheel Cactus and the damage they cause
- see Wheel Cactus as someone else’s issue
- feel embarrassed about their infestations
- even like Wheel Cactus!
No doubt there’s other reasons we could come up with. It’s important to be understanding of the genuine reasons a neighbour may have for not tackling their Wheel Cactus. Hopefully there may be an opportunity for a pleasant, encouraging chat with your neighbour about Wheel Cactus control options?
There’s always a percentage of people we meet that we can influence positively. It’s all in the way we engage with each other. By sharing useful and relevant information in a non-judgemental and encouraging way, sometimes we can affect change! A pleasant chat, maybe offering to share support or plan a local working bee, might just end up encouraging someone new to start tackling Wheel Cactus on their land.
The Tarrangower Cactus Control Group (TCCG) has a wealth of information and support to provide landowners and neighbourhood groups, including providing injecting equipment for loan. Check out our website (www.cactuswarriors.org).
Many local landholders, government agencies, interest groups and the TCCG cactus warriors devote a lot of time controlling this introduced weed. It’s relentless work, and requires consistent, committed efforts to limit its spread. Controlling Wheel Cactus, and the many other weeds that compete with our native plants, is a team effort!
