Himalayan Balsam
Can you hit:
D1 and D2 hard - as far in as you dare/feel comfortable going. Suzie and Iain attacked a substantial stand of growth this week and took out hundreds. You can see the site of the massacre near the path quite easily.
D1 and D2 are next to the Play Area....
near the 'Keep Out' signs!
Keep an eye on C2 and C3
A careful, weekly sweep across that central flat area will continue to pay dividends if we prevent flowering. Some are right in the middle of nettles. They are hard to get to but worthwhile as those flower heads will spit loads of seeds and re-infest those areas. They seem to be flowering early, and may have something to do with the dry then wet weather. Now is the time to control them..
What & Why & Wherefores of Himalayan Balsam
Himalayan Balsam is that plant that grows 6ft and has nice pink flowers that look a bit like orchids.
The trouble is that when they grow they keep everything else down, including nettles and other plants that harbour a whole range of creatures, to live on (more from RHS). So the whole ecosystem declines.
The only good thing that it does is provide flowers for bee pollination, and have help kept bees going in certain summers. Apparently bees with a white stripe indicate they are feeding on balsam. We must make sure we give bees something in return - for instance meadow flowers.
For guidance on where to bash, our 'Man-with-a-plan' created this map of the wood...click 'sub heading'
After the plant flowers, they produce seeds which explode so dispersing 3-4 metres, so the plants spread rapidly.
If you see a plant like this, PULL IT OUT. It is either producing seeds, or just about to. Try and hold on to the seeds.
Those pink flowers look lovely, but this is a picture by the Calder of what balsam does - completely takes over
Ever since Whalley Moor Woodland Friends was started there was in the ‘principle’ of no tolerance of Himalayan Balsam. However, it is easy to sneak up. It easily grows in wet ground, and is often found by the side of rivers. In the summer of 2017 it had ideal terrain from July onwards - sodden soil.
This year 2023 has been dry, but now wet and it has appeared all over the place..
This species is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales therefore, it is also an offense to plant or otherwise cause to grow these species in the wild.
We would like for trees like Ash, Elm and Hazel to grow and then coppice them. There is coppiced Hazel in the Woodland by the playground.
We particularly concerned about Ash, because of a disease called 'Ash Dieback. As a result, the movement of Ash trees is banned. So we need the Ash saplings to survive here, as they cannot be replaced.
How did we go about Balsam Bashing?
Plan A was to involve people living nearby to come and help. In doing so they would get attached to the woodland and be able do other things. Despite regular email shots, it came down to a few people and roping in friends. While pulling out an individual plant is easy, there are a lot of them, and they are difficult to get to in the middle of nettles and brambles.
Plan B was to Get Community Service to do some service for the community. After several meetings to liaise and organise, eventually two white vans turned up one day. With one Community Service person in each., and a driver each. We never managed to link up again.
Plan C was to get the sprayers in. Time and again we would think 'we'd cracked it', only to turn round and see a great swathe of them. So we got the sprayer in who sprayed glyphosate on the worst affected areas. They died sure enough, but other plants remained dead too for at least 2 years. So we agreed, we'd hand pull in the nettle/bramble areas, and spray when it was 100% balsam.
At the end of the summer 2018, it looks like we are 'on top', as it was a dry year...but they were back. Now in 2023, we hope to be on top of them this summer. We have passed on the responsibility to the Council for the area near Mitton Road for bashing, as we feel it is too dangerous to enter since the devastation they left after the chain saw massacre.
Young Balsam
This is the state we need to bash them - before they fllower. Even good old nettles and brambles are better, as they do provide breeding places for lots of creatures
We need to recognise the younger versions, and teach people to look out and pull them up wherever they see one, as the earlier they are out the more light can come in.