Awards for the most “Weed Wise” retail nurseries in Australasia
A very high proportion of serious weeds in Australia and New Zealand (and in other countries) were introduced as garden ornamentals. Two new annual awards for the most “Weed Wise” retail nurseries (one in Australia, one in New Zealand) have been created. The purpose of the awards is to raise awareness about the invasive garden plants problem. Awards will also give positive publicity to retail nurseries that do not sell well-known invasive garden plants and who support appropriate labelling schemes and customer education.
Criteria for the awards for nurseries (retail or Garden Centre) are the following:
- Has the nursery voluntarily removed invasive species, especially popular species sold by other nurseries?;
- Does the nursery sell examples of local native flora?
- Is labelling of plants adequate e.g. do the plants have the correct scientific name, are potentially invasive species labelled as such?
- Is the nursery accredited by any industry associations(s)? Has the nursery a policy on invasive species and/or related issues such as sustainability, biodiversity conservation and/or agriculture protection?
- Does the nursery participate in any schemes such as ‘Grow Me Instead’ (or any similar schemes run by local government or community groups: ‘Flora for Fauna’, ‘Water Wise’, ‘Frog Watch’). How much impact does this have on plant species stocked, other products sold, and education of customers?;Does the nursery educate customers about environmental issues, including invasive species?
Sources
Council of Australia Weed Society: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~weedss/