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The City of Whyalla wants everyone to check the bottom of their shoes.
The recent rain and consequent warm weather has seen a burst of caltrop weed around the city’s parks and gardens.
A lot of this new weed has come about through the spread of the prickles from other areas and residents’ gardens. The prickles, or burr casings, can also been seen on the road after coming off car tyres and then blow into the parks to germinate.
If you have caltrop in your garden, or can see it starting to grow, now is the time to get rid of it.
It can be poisoned before it has flowered but if it has flowered or has prickles on it, the best course of action is to dig it up and importantly, place it in the red bin.
If you put the plant and its prickles in the green waste bin it will be turned into mulch and the prickles will survive to germinate where people put down that mulch.
There are even some novel ways of clearing up the prickles left behind after the plant has been removed. Some people buy a cheap pair of “thick” thongs and tramp around the garden picking up the prickles.
Another idea is to get an old vacuum cleaner and “hoover” them up.
Either way, we’ve got to keep them under control in Whyalla. They spoil our beautifully grassed gardens and backyards, making it no fun to run around with no shoes on. They aren’t much fun for pets either when they get into their paws.
So get rid of any weeds in your garden, check your shoes when you go out and we’ll get on top of these prickles.