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Old Man’s Beard
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Old Man's Beard was made famous by David Bellamy
Old Man's Beard, Clematis vitalba, is a serious weed of native forests in New Zealand.
Old Man's Beard (OMB) was made famous by David Bellamy in the 1980s in New Zealand with a series of adverts. You can still see many of these on YouTube is you do a search.
OMB can climb over the top of huge Kahikatea trees and smother them completely. It has become one of the worst forest weeds in NZ for this reason. There are many websites dedicated to describing this weed and its dangers.
Clematis vitalba is an introduced plant from Europe, not to be confused with the native clematis. The native Clematis paniculata is seen in many parts of NZ in early Spring, the harbinger of Spring that adds cascade of white to dress the forest. The NZ Plant Conservation Network website is very helpful for plant identification.
Plant ID is made easier with a visit to The NZ Plant Conservation Network or with this new APP from INaturalist
Don’t confuse with the native clematis below. If in doubt seek professional help. or Visit this Website for better descriptions.
These below are the Weed Species from Europe. See this link for a better ID
Treating OMB has been well researched and methods refined using Cut’n’Paste by Project DeVine in Takaka. Please see their link for a full testimonial from them of using our products.
Project DeVine have carried out the fullest testing of Cut’n’Paste for OMB and can warrant it’s success in their work. They have been using Glimax of late and previously Bamboo Buster.
Cut the vine as near the ground as is feasible and IMMEDIATELY paste the stump with a 3 – 5 mm layer of the Glimax gel.
It may look pretty but it’s going to kill the huge tree it’s climbing up. Much easier to kill it whilst it’s young.
