Please, fellow Victorians, don't wait until a toxic 15-foot giant hogweed towers over your backyard. While trying to weed the fence line between our house and our neighbour's overgrown back yard, I brushed up against some small, unseen immature plants. Result? Angry, red, streaky burns like nothing I've ever seen. They broke into pustules a day or so later; two and a half months later, I still have faint marks on my arms to remind me of the encounter.
Nobody likes weeding, but you do not want something like this in your yard and if your weeds are high, you may not notice it's there.
Look after your own yard and report overgrown yards and lots. Homeowners have a legal responsibility to control weeds on their properties and we found the city bylaw office quickly and courteously responded to and followed up on our complaint.
Joyce Kline
Victoria
