We are guided by the following principles with regards to weed control:

• Know your weeds.
• What are they?
• How do they grow and reproduce?
• Are there any proven ways to control them?
• What is the worst that can happen if I don’t control them?

Minimise the potential damage to the environment and human health. Control of a particular weed could hardly be termed ‘successful’ if it has resulted in harming everything else as well.

Use herbicides only when no viable alternative exists.

Manage areas to minimise the amount of weed control required. For example:

• Deal with the conditions that are allowing weeds to flourish. Discover the source of weed infestations. Use inert and ‘living’ mulches.
• Perform regular and thorough maintenance to minimise seeding and vegetative growth.
• Recognise ‘stable’ versus ‘dynamic’ weed populations, and target the dynamic ones, ie those weeds which can quickly overtake or dominate an area.
• Adopt the most strategic and sensible approach to begin with, so that the work occurs in the most costly and timely fashion possible.