Woodlands Historic Park
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

Blackberry is currently at low levels in the park after several years of chemical control of the infestation on the former Greenvale Sanatorium land.

Biological Control

There was an unauthorized release of the leaf-rust fungus Phragmidium violaceumis in Australia in 1984 and another strain was released in 1991 after extensive testing. It was very effective on some strains of blackberry in high rainfall areas. Additional rust strains were released starting in 2004. None are effective in shady areas.

A ten year Victorian research program into Purple Blotch Disease (Septocyta ruborum) was suspended in 2012 after it's funding ceased (see Victorian Blackberry Taskforce Annual Report 2012/2013).