The ACT Government’s City Presentation Team works to keep Canberra weed-free in several ways.

But did you know these include the use of lasers?

While some Canberrans spend their Sundays pulling weeds from gardens, City Presentation Team members work through the night.

“We start early in the morning – 3am,” City Services employee Yogesh said.

Their vehicle is fitted with an optical boom sprayer equipped with an infrared beam. As they move along roadsides, the laser zeroes in on plant material, then sprays it with herbicide.

Not only is this more precise, but it minimises chemical use. Working in the early hours of the morning allows work to be completed to avoid any traffic disruption.

“We follow strict rules when using chemicals for weed control. The trucks move slowly so the sensor can accurately detect and target the weed. It won’t spray a dead plant or areas where there are no weeds growing,” Yogesh said.

“We spray 30cm above the ground, to minimise the risk of spreading to another non-invasive plant. We don’t use chemicals in areas with native grasses.”

Yogesh and his team employ a wider combination of weed control practices. These include brush cutting and hand weeding, used in sensitive areas like waterways.

Weed control is essential to keeping Canberra free from invasive species.

It is carried out along laneways, in urban parks and open spaces, along kerbs and gutters, in stormwater channels, along fence lines and bollards, on gravel medians, and in and around car parks and shopping centres throughout the year.

And weed control varies each season.

“Spring to autumn we focus on laneways, parks, shops and urban spaces. In winter we target guard rails, bridges and areas we don’t frequently do. We use pre- emergent chemicals more in winter to prevent the growth of weeds in warmer, wetter months,” Yogesh said.

The City Presentation Team also seek out and trial alternative methods. They prioritise activities to prevent weed growth such as mulching, and landscape design.

Yogesh has seen such pre-emptive weed control used successfully.

“One of the projects I worked on was to control environmental weeds along the Barton Highway. We identified that the highway was becoming a high-speed transport corridor for weed seeds,” he said,

“We conducted reactive brush cutting/spraying along one part of the highway just for them to pop up in another area. We started using pre-emergent spray to target weed seeds before they started growing.

“This reduced the number of weeds along the highway and allowed us to control their spread more effectively.”

Find information on invasive weeds and how to identify them.

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