Himalayan Balsam in Gill Banks

After a steady regular tackling of this problem over the past past two months we are on top of it.

That is this side of Ulverston.

This morning we were down to finding just a few plants.

One of them had a great sense of humour.

It was where we didn't expect to find it : lots of shade, nothing much growing - "there won't be any down there", territory.

But there was - one in full bloom - on a little island  - ready to distribute thousands of seeds down into the beck below, to be carried down to the patch we had been clearing for all this time.

Now we just have to deal with the plants that come next year from seeds that are still lying dormant ready to germinate when we aren't looking.

With the Balsam gone we can look forward to a much wider variety of plants coming back with the accompanying insects that will attract other wild life.

In anyone sees some upstream we'd like to know.

Himalayan Balsam

We've now removed every plant of this invasive species that we can find from Gill Banks.

If you see any, could you let us know - 01229 480 347 - Here's what it looks like.

We're trying to avoid it blooming this year at all - in which case we should be rid of it.

Thanks

Note: You didn't realise the danger of Himalayan Balsam?

Well it's not the worse perhaps - Japanese Knotweed is far more difficult to remove and also very invasive.

There's plenty here on the Internet.

Start here!

Himalayan Balsam

is an invasive species.

We tackled it last year - too late - when it was in bloom.

However this reduced its occurrence this year.

However now we aim to totally eradicate this plant from Gill Banks which should be fairly easy.

We have been working in the beck and its banks and pulling it out - with care we get the whole plant - with its roots.

We have a week or so to do the work as some of the plants are beginning to come into bloom.

We have nearly covered the whole area and then it will be mainly a question of spotting any plants that we have missed.

If you see any or want to help, give me a shout - 480 347.

If you want to get rid of it near you,  let me know - there's a fair bit down by Outcast - now's the time to tackle it.