Himalayan Balsam

[Wyrd]

We have a serious takeover by Himalayan Balsam in our 300 acre park. By late summer, it dominates entire swathes of the woods and pushes out all native plants. Every year it spreads further and its growing further and further upriver too.

In the summer months, I uproot plants and snap the stems as I walk the dog - my pathetic one-woman effort to discourage its spread at least a little bit.

I have two questions and would appreciate thoughts and advice.

Firstly, the bees love it. As bee populations are in trouble right now, should this positive of HB outweight the negatives of its invasive character and the virtual monoculture that it creates wherever it takes hold?

Secondly, given how invasive it is and its eradication of the native plants that would otherwise grow where the HB now grows, are councils under any obligation to deal with it (as they are with Japanese Knotweed)? And, if not, should they be?

[fairplay]

Poor Council !
If you could prove the source of the seed bank came from council owned land, you may have a case of approaching them, but you would have to put on waders and walk upstream until you come to the root cause.
But on your land, you are responsible.

On the RSPB Reserve at North Warren in Suffolk the RSPB did absolutely nothing to prevent its spread, and this river feeds Thorpeness Mere boating lake, itself a SSSI and privately owned, before going out to sea.

I'm very surprised Natural England have not said anything.

Neil.

[Farplace]

It is a very invasive pest plant - but as you say, the bees love them. (and they are also rather pretty in SMALL numbers). They are probably here to stay, but need to be controlled, especially close to water ways.
You can eat them - especially the seeds - so they are not ALL bad news.
Here's a link to 50-odd recipes, but I haven't tried any yet.

http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/an...layan%20Balsam

[dunkeld]

As far as I know if it is possible to cut down the HB say with a petrol strimmer for two seasons BEFORE the plant flowers,that pretty much is IT.
Thereafter it is a case of keeping on top of the few surviving plants. At least that is what Angus Council has been doing on the banks of the River South Esk in Angus. I am almost sure that this will be the third year of the exercise from the source of the Balsom to Montrose Bay. (The Sea).

[Wyrd]

@ fairplay - the source is definitely council owned land. This is in our local park - none anywhere outside it that I've seen.

@ farplace - I didn't know you could eat them! Thanks for the link. I might have a nibble next season.

@ dunkeld - thanks for the info. I'll pass that on to the park's Friends group and we'll see if we can either get the council to strim or get volunteers to do it to keep the HB under control.

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by Wyrd

@ fairplay - the source is definitely council owned land. This is in our local park - none anywhere outside it that I've seen.

@ farplace - I didn't know you could eat them! Thanks for the link. I might have a nibble next season.

@ dunkeld - thanks for the info. I'll pass that on to the park's Friends group and we'll see if we can either get the council to strim or get volunteers to do it to keep the HB under control.

That's interesting - all I can say is 'go for it' ! You need to find the right solicitor who can find the right experts, and you can bet the council will be able to find their own experts too.

I'd imagine the best resort you are likely to achieve is an out of court settlement with the council still denying responsibility because they cannot afford a precedent to be set.

Neil.

Just had a thought - contact Natural England first before the council do.

[Wyrd]

@ fairplay - I think you might have misunderstood my posts. I'm talking about a problem in our local park, not one on my property. There's no reason for me to sue the council or anyone else. We have a Friends of the Park group, of which I'm a member, which consists of volunteers to work with the council to address problems in the park, of which this is one. No suing involved!

[MattPrince]

Originally Posted by Wyrd

@ fairplay - I think you might have misunderstood my posts. I'm talking about a problem in our local park, not one on my property. There's no reason for me to sue the council or anyone else. We have a Friends of the Park group, of which I'm a member, which consists of volunteers to work with the council to address problems in the park, of which this is one. No suing involved!

Its really easy to pull up and clear from an area - but then it just reseeds from up stream.

Huge swathes of it along the Exe.

Trouble is you only need one recalcitrant property owner upstream and you are stuck with it throughout the water course.

Matt

[Brocakat]

As this plant is an Annual - the best way of treating it is to consider cutting it at its base , whilst it is still young & short.
So long as it will not have time to try & create another 'leader' which will bear flowers -> seeds --- you will break the Cycle.

[treb0r]

Hi Everybody,

I just discovered this thread from a Google Alert I have following 'Himalayan Balsam"

here in the Calder Valley we are completely inundated with the stuff, and it's particularly sad because it seems to target the most beautiful woods and valleys we have.

Various people have tried to bash it over the years, but to no avail - there always seems to be a few surviving plants and given that a single plant can generate over one thousand seeds, the plant always manages to make a come back the following season.

After years of letting it get me down, I came across the work being conducted at CABI by a scientist called Rob Tanner:

CABI | Development and Research | Biological control of Himalayan Balsam

Now, I realise that people are very nervous about the idea of biological control in the wake of Cane toads and Harlequin Ladybirds, but these people really seem to know what they are about. I've had some brief correspondence with them and they tell me that they have a rust fungus that they found in the himalayas that has co-evolved with Balsam and is host specific, meaning it will live on Balsam and nothing else. They are conducting testing until 2015 when if all is well they will apply for a license to release it into the wild. They say that the rust fungus will bring the Balsam under control without eradicating it completely.

There's a short video about looking for natural predators here:

In search of biological control agents for Himalayan balsam - YouTube

Good luck!

Rob