Latest news with #TimPickles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
New homeowners' five-month battle with invasive plant in backyard: 'Killed everything'
A first homeowner is celebrating after a five-month backyard battle with an invasive plant stretching 20 metres-high along his fence line. The man and his wife, who purchased the Brisbane property nine months ago, began the lengthy and tedious process of removing the 'absolute monstrosity of bamboo' spurting from the ground over the Christmas holidays. At least one day a week, the couple — wielding a chainsaw and bottle of herbicide — chipped away at the unruly mass, with the final piece being cut down this week. To celebrate their victory, the man posted numerous images online of the bamboo, some of which he said was as thick as his leg, towering over their garden and the property next door. 'It had all stayed in its clumps on our side. Hasn't spread anywhere else. Although it was dramatically hanging right over their property before we cut it down,' he said. The homeowner revealed the notoriously fast spreading plant, which is native to tropical and subtropical Asia and features over 100 species, had irritated numerous surrounding residents. 'The whole neighbourhood was sick of the leaves going everywhere and filing everyone's gutters,' he explained. 'It killed everything around it. And our house is now full of natural light.' Just a week after the couple purchased the home, their immediate neighbours approached them 'asking for it to be removed'. To help them do so, the man said the 'awesome' residents agreed to let the couple rip down their shared fence so they could 'have full side access via their property the whole time'. 'Wouldn't have been able to do it without that, so we are very grateful,' the man added. 'Although they are just as stoked it's gone themselves.' 🏡 Aussie forks out $3,000 over neighbour's 'uncontrollable' plant ☀️ Homeowner cops $600 increase in power bill thanks to backyard act 🦌 Despair for farmers as invasive species destroys $50k worth of produce While everything up to this point had been done by hand, the homeowners will enlist the help of an excavator to remove the remaining stumps, each of which they sprayed with 'poison' to prevent it from growing back. 'We pretty much sprayed each shoot the second we cut it. Seemed to work quite well. Within a week they'd lost all colour and gone hard,' the man said. A new fence and privacy trees will be installed in the future. Earlier this year, Sydney garden centre owner Tim Pickles told Yahoo News bamboo is not suitable for narrow gardens often found in Aussie suburbs and cities. 'Bamboo, by nature, spreads and gets wider and wider over time, so in today's narrow gardens, it impacts your neighbours,' he said. 'They're uncontrollable... it eventually pops up next door... it's disrupting as it can lift pavements, concrete fences... it's a powerful plant.' Bamboo, species of which were introduced to Australia as an ornamental plant, have spread into many parts of South East Queensland and northern NSW, where they have become a problem for landowners. Shoots from buds of underground stems can spread and produce new canes slowly or rapidly, depending on whether they are a clumping bamboo or a running bamboo. The former is less invasive of native vegetation. In Queensland, the plant is not considered to be prohibited or restricted under the Biosecurity Act 2014, however, by law, all residents have an obligation to 'take reasonable and practical steps to minimise the risks associated with invasive plants under their control'. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Resident's kerbside garden under threat after anonymous council complaint: 'Stupid rule'
A resident who lovingly planted native shrubs and flowers outside her home fears she will have to remove them after an unknown person complained to council saying they were a "visual hazard". Thelma Kilfeather lives in a residential street known for its leafiness in Elderslie, a suburb in Sydney's southwest. She has a well-established front garden, however she told Yahoo News the council has been "targeting it remorsefully" since receiving a complaint and is pushing its "no verge garden" policy onto her "lovely wee flowers". Thelma's friend Tim Pickles, who is a local garden centre owner, told Yahoo she has been contacted by Camden Council five times in four weeks saying the plants in the nature strip outside her home have to go. "They've had one complaint and she doesn't know who it came from," Tim told Yahoo. "They've told her to remove the garden because it's a visual hazard, the idea is that people can't see past it on the road." However, Tim said the plants aren't particularly tall and the nature strip is "not overgrown, it's neatly maintained". "It's not a hazard at all, it's ridiculous," he said. "We should be attracting nature to our nature strips. People should be able to plant trees and shrubs and flowers and even vegetables," he said. "Instead they want it to be turned into a grass slope... or weed-infested mess." 👀 Calls for simple roadside change after council workers spotted in expensive 2.5km act 🌱 Council defends 'disgraceful' road move after residents erupt 😠 'Selfish' nature strip act slammed in angry note Residents are permitted to plant on nature strips in many Aussie councils but often require permission or specific permits to do so. Yahoo News understands Thelma had not asked for or received permission before planting on the nature strip. However, many believe there is unnecessary red tape around something that should be straightforward, with Tim calling it a "stupid rule" and questioning why it's not simply encouraged. "If we attract nature closer to our home, we have better mental health... we should want to encourage gardeners, not find them and prosecute them," Tim said. After sharing details of the issue online, many locals responded and called the decision "crazy". "That's beautiful, it's a pity more people didn't do the same," one said. Camden Council told Yahoo News it has been in contact with Thelma after receiving complaints about her plants in the nature strip. It is unclear if the council received several complaints from the one person or from multiple people. "Following recent complaints, the planting on the nature strip outside the resident's property is under review to ensure it does not pose a safety hazard," the spokesperson said. "The garden is planted on public land and is, therefore, unauthorised." The council said Thelma hasn't been "formally advised" to take action as this stage and it will likely "request the resident trim and maintain the planting appropriately rather than remove it altogether". "Council is currently considering the development of a Nature Strip Maintenance Policy, which would provide guidelines for residents to use their nature strips to plant small plants and shrubs. The development of this policy has been taken into consideration when considering this matter," the spokesperson said. "Council works hard to balance the needs and requests of all residents, as well as consider any risks associated with matters like this." Thelma isn't the first Aussie resident to face this issue with a council before, with Melbourne's Neil McPherson urged to dig out his agapanthus plants from the nature strip outside his home or face an almost $8,000 fine. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
