TREAT

Lantana (Lantana camara) - Declared Class 3, can be useful in assisting with succession and the ecosystem restoration of an area. However the following resources and information might be useful in planning for lantana control and to assist with identification of the most suitable and effective method for your situation.

Lantana is poisonous to cattle and other livestock so it is worth keeping at least your property boundary clear of lantana.

Publications

Battling Lantana - Learning from the experiences of others (DVD) - This gives a good overview of the control options available for a wide variety of situations.

Lantana Control Manual available from WoNS Lantana

Using herbicides on lantana: a guide to best management practices

Or contact lantanaWoNS@dpi.qld.gov.au to obtain copies of these publications.

Further information and resources on Lantana are available from Weeds Australia - WoNS Lantana.

Splatter Gun control of Lantana

by Dr Daniel Stock
National Lantana Management Group

Currently there are many techniques available to landholders to clear lantana. They range from hand removal, through to herbicide and mechanical options. Integrated lantana control combines two or more methods targeting vulnerable aspects of the weed, different points in its life cycle or its environment in order to achieve effective control. In most situations, lantana can only be controlled successfully through integrated control together with sustained follow-up and revegetation. Lantana can often be managed easily if control efforts are kept up.

One particular technique that can be used in integrated control plans is the Splatter Gun technique.

The method

• The splatter gun method involves applying a low volume of concentrated herbicide mix to foliage. A specialised nozzle produces large droplets of herbicide that can be applied from a distance of 6-10 meters away.
• Only a small portion of the foliage needs to be sprayed so off target damage can be minimised and this technique is particularly useful in areas of difficult access or sensitive vegetation.
• A marker dye is recommended to identify splatter bushes.
• Apply approximately 15-20 millilitre of herbicide mix per splatter on large bushes to achieve the registered rate of 2 x 2ml per 0.5 metre of bush height.
• Arch the spray over the top of the bush and down the front face and if treating dense lantana, applying one splatter every two strides, with an occasional horizontal pass low across the front edge of the bushes to treat any seedlings.
• As with all herbicide treatments, apply to actively growing plants with full foliage.
• Like all lantana controls, follow-up treatments are recommended to control seedlings and/ or regrowth.
• A manual drench or gas powered set up are commercially available.

Advantages

• Good where dense vegetation or lantana prevents other conventional methods being used.
• Good where inaccessibility means mechanical methods cannot be used.
• Delivers small volumes of concentrated herbicide to reduce chemical usage and off-target damage.
• Only a small portion of the foliage needs to be covered, so useful in areas of difficult access or sensitive vegetation.
• Can be applied using the back pack on foot, from a vehicle or horseback.
• Minimises direct soil disturbance.
• Good for low to medium density lantana.
• Good around watercourses.
• Comparatively large areas can be treated per backpack of spray due to small volume of high concentration mix applied.

Disadvantages

• Appears to not work as well on pink-edged red and red varities of lantana.
• When using non-selective herbicides, there may be off target damage if not applied carefully.

Registered herbicides

Splatter or gas gun rate Glyphosate 360 g/L 1:9 glyphosate: water 2 x 2ml doses per 0.5 m of bush height

The lantana splatter gun is manufactured in Australia by NJ Phillips www.njphillips.com.au this is not an endorsement of this particular brand.
Lantana Splatter gun in use.

Biological Control of Lantana

Developing biological controls for lantana is a slow process because the plant is complex due to cross breeding between different flower colours of the plant and the different species of lantana in Australia, which makes it different to the plants origianlly imported into Australia.

Check if there is a biological control that is effective in your area even if it only controls one flower colour it will assist in the control of lantana, as herbicide spraying if required, can be concentrated on plants not being targetted by the biological control.

For information on all of the biocontrol agents for Lantana that have established within Australia visit: Lantana biocontrol agents.

More weeds

Weeds Why bother? - Declared Weeds - Lantana (this page) - Local Law Declared weeds

Environmental Weeds - A - B - C - K - L - R - S - Z - Weed glossary

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