The issue

The presence of heavy infestations of invasive weeds on steep, hard-to-access farm land is disheartening for any landowner. Control actions are time-consuming, physically demanding and expensive. If the particular weed is widespread across the region and not officially identified as a priority in Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans, it is very difficult to access grant funding or assistance.

In Splitters Creek just west of Albury, Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is one such species. It is locally invasive, a direct threat to agricultural production and the environment, and also wide-spread.  John and June Love bought their 173-hectare Splitters Creek farm in 1978.  The dense thickets of Tree-of-heaven were obscuring the boundary fences, choking the hills and hiding the sheep.

Tree-of-heaven has a tendency to sucker extensively from its roots, forming dense thickets and outcompeting other desirable plants.  Control of the species is difficult requiring careful removal of potential propagules (such as seeds, roots & stumps), poisoning and repeated treatments. A single mature tree can produce about 300,000 seeds each year. It has been reported as being able to sucker from roots for at least 4 years after a tree is cut down, sometimes many metres from the parent plant.