Q: Lantana - When we bought our property there was a large and healthy crop of this weed. I have go it down to two large plants which will not die. How can I finally get rid of this horrible pest? Melissa - Holland Park West
A: Cut those two recalcitrant plants down at their base, and immediately paint the fresh cut with a concentrated solution of glyphosate straight out of the bottle.
They may each have ‘several bases’ however, meaning that two or three or more stems may be growing out of the ground. Treat them all in similar fashion.
You need to be sure that you have your glyphosate ready at the time the bases are being cut, so that the painting can happen immediately thereafter. Cuts on most plants heal to a degree within a few hours of being cut and will not absorb as much of the glyphosate if they have been given time to heal.
A surer way of killing off the lantana would be to drill several little holes all around and up the bases of the plants, and filling these holes with ‘straight’ glyphosate. The plant then still has a canopy of leaves which helps with greater absorption of the glyphosate into the plant. To do this, however, the bases need to be fairly thick to enable drilling.
There is, of course, the old way – the ‘hard yakka’ way. Dig them out, roots and all!
