READING the last issue of Pitchcare magazine it seemed to me that there was a good choice of articles concerning herbicide application, tree selection and invasive species.
Despite being separate, all of these are very closely linked and are all a major part of the work we are undertaking.
Use of herbicides is a fickle field. Even within the EU there is a whole range of differing regulations throughout Europe, many of which will probably be enforced in the UK before long. As an island we seem to miss out on a lot of the regulations concerning herbicide usage. I have recently been over in Europe speaking to government bodies and authorities in Holland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. By the time this article is published I will also have spent some time in Romania. The reason for my visits started out as purely commercial ventures
well as for use in the control of Japanese Knotweed. Interestingly though, the dose rate permitted in the Czech Republic far exceeds that in UK and they are getting some interesting results controlling Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed. The Dutch are somewhere between the UK and Belgium and are generally fairly easy going.
I am looking at establishing trials for biological herbicides in various countries in Europe. There seems to be a firm belief that the days of traditional herbicides are numbered and new innovative methods need to be looked into. Mycoherbicides and biological control is being researched throughout the world. In America there is an intention to use it to combat the drug barons in Colombia and Afghanistan, making the whole potential industry somewhat overshadowed by frightening
Ecology, the environme GROUNDS MAINTEN
looking at the export market of some of the works undertaken by tcm with regard to invasive weed management but, it very quickly became apparent, that the market throughout Europe is totally different to here in the UK. Belgium, for example, are completely against any herbicide use and are taking the EU regulations to the very highest degree in terms of regulating the use of chemicals. Whilst over there I was not only discussing the control of aquatic invasives, but also Japanese Knotweed in non aquatic situations. Exceptions can be granted for use of RoundUp Pro Biactive but, on the whole, all chemicals are outlawed. The Czech Republic also have an interesting view towards herbicides, with only RoundUp Biactive (480g/l) being authorised for use on or adjacent to water as
headlines. Organisations such as CABI Bioscience have been looking into the use of Biological Controls for a number of years and are very close to releasing these control agents. As with all forms of control, one has to weigh up the consequence of leaving the problem against developing new innovative solutions which, by nature, will also have new effects on the environment as a whole. So why, are they generally so anti herbicides? Surely RoundUp is safe, the safest herbicide there is, you can buy it in garden centres and it is a household name. Despite this, Glyphosate can have a terrible effect on watercourses, causing de- oxygenation and death to aquatic organisms all the way along the food chain. The use of adjuvants (surfactants / wetting agents) is generally regarded as good
The dose rate permitted in the Czech Republic far exceeds that in UK
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