More Balsam!

[Barbara]

And then there is Ragwort and Knotweed - HELP!!

[Deniseam]

Wonder if the matting that is being laid down on Dan Bank is to stop the balsam growing.

Its quite satisfying pulling up the balsam as it comes up so easily.  Maybe the council could put up signs with photographs where there is a problem with the stuff inviting people to pull up any that they see.  Hmm probably some kind of Elf and Safety issue........

[Lisa Oldham]

My kids and I AND my dog ( she eats it!) balsam bash all year until about now!  you can chop it when it flowers ( too much of it to stop the pollen!) but not when it starts to seed.
The only way really to control it is to take it out by the root and rot down/burn..
if anyone goes through brabyns wood they will notice what was a huge patch of balsam has been reduced to almost nothing.. this is as a result of one lady dog walker who visits the wood and pulls all the seedlings up in spring early summer.. at that size they wither and die quickly.. they dont if you leave them until they are fully grown.  So our bashing and ulling is good as it prevents some flowering and seeding however in the end they just grow back!

We now have balsam in our garden as a result of the railway chopping down all the trees 2 years ago!  Balsam filled the space and seeded in my garden.. maybe i should sue? 

[Deniseam]

We try and pull it up whenever we see it but I was advised not to do it when it is in flower - this was when volunteering in Boggart Hole Clough some years ago.  Apparently the pollen is spread by disturbing it.  So my query is why can we not pull up as much as we can before it flowers and then strim the rest?  Will that help prevent the spread of the pollen and therefore the spread of the plant?

[My login is Henrietta]

It's the plant world's equivalent to Canada Geese - leaves no room for anything else  

Dont ask the council to do something about it they wont know what you mean .

They are the same with ragwort. I have a long-standing argument going on with SMBC about the ragwort they are permitting to flourish on their land all over the borough. They are committing an offence but, unfortunately, the responsibility for enforcing the law on ragwort lies with the local authority..........!

At least ragwort has a natural predator (the slate blue and red cinnabar moth which feeds exclusively on ragwort) which himalayan balsam doesn't (at least not in this in this country).

Unfortunately, it isn't an offence to allow HB on your land although it may be to allow it to spread to adjacent land but from what I've read it seems that the law may only be enforced by your neighbour sueing you when his land is infested

[amazon]

It's the plant world's equivalent to Canada Geese - leaves no room for anything else  

Dont ask the council to do something about it they wont know what you mean .

[admin]

It's the plant world's equivalent to Canada Geese - leaves no room for anything else  

[marveld]

You can't see the Scroll Bridge in Brabyns properly now!

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