Controlling them when they are small is easy and cheap. If they are left to grow, they can spread across your property onto your neighbours’ gardens and to nearby reserves, smothering our native bush and destroying the habitat of native wildlife.

Some pest plants, such as privet, moth plant and woolly nightshade, can also be bad for our health, and can even cause damage to housing infrastructure, such as pipes and concrete.

Auckland Council will soon be introducing new rules that require people in some areas to remove pest plants from their property, in order to protect our precious bush reserves.

Be a good neighbour and take action as soon as possible:

Recognise pest plants using the resources available below, or download the excellent app iNaturalist.NZ.

Remove pest plants following our best practice guidelines. Ensure that pods and seed heads are securely disposed of in landfill. We can provide you with a list of recommended pest plant control contractors, if you are not able to tackle them yourself. Talk to your neighbours and encourage them to take action too! Our pest plant disposal bins in Browns Bay and Whangaparāoa are for our communities to use to dispose of certain parts of some pest plants that pose the greatest threat to our indigenous bush. Correct disposal of seeds, seed pods, seed heads and roots greatly reduces the risk that the pest plant will spread to other areas after removal. Please see the resource below detailing the locations of the bins and what pest plant parts can be put inside.

Restore our native wildlife by planting native trees and shrubs, which will feed tūī, kererū and other native birds and wildlife all year round and make your neighbourhood a more attractive place to live. Native planting after pest plant control also helps to prevent those sites from being colonised by other weeds.

For further information and advice, or if you have any questions at all, email pestplants@restorehb.org.nz.

If working with established groups or projects, please ask your project coordinator or group leader for resources specific to your project.