Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) in an invasive plant introduced from ditches high up in the Himalayas. It is a tall plant (up to 2m high) with thick watery, almost translucent green stems with leaves either opposite or in threes. The leaves are often red veined and the margins are finely toothed. They have a high demand for water and have a glorious show of light pink-purple coloured flowers in early to mid-summer. The flowers are fertilised and the resultant seed pods explode on contact (even by a strong breeze) spreading seeds up to 7 meters away. Each pod has up to 70 seeds and each plant may have 20 or so flowers.
The plants grow quickly, spread voraciously and shade out other plants. Moreover, they out compete native plants for nectar with insects thus potentially leading to a disastrous effects on native wildflowers. They prefer, being near water, but will spread and dominate woodlands, pond margins and grassland areas unless stopped.
Luckily the plants are very shallow rooted so can be pulled up easily, problem is that there are thousands of them. In 2009, I started a short experiment to see how difficult a job it would be. I picked a small area and pulled up all the balsam. The picture below on the left was in May 2009 and on the right is May 2010. I spent 4 hours in 2009 and just 30 minutes in 2010. Therefore it is possible to tackle this problem.
Himalayn Balsam has spread enormously across the LNR and has threatened to take over the grassland which is great for wildlife and popular for exercise especially among dog walkers. It is also moving into the woodlands. In 2010, we performed a mixture of hand pulling, chemical spraying and strimming on the LNR.
The wildlife on the LNR is built upon the biodiversity of the plants:
The meadow:
In the woods:
The plants grow quickly, spread voraciously and shade out other plants. Moreover, they out compete native plants for nectar with insects thus potentially leading to a disastrous effects on native wildflowers. They prefer, being near water, but will spread and dominate woodlands, pond margins and grassland areas unless stopped.
Luckily the plants are very shallow rooted so can be pulled up easily, problem is that there are thousands of them. In 2009, I started a short experiment to see how difficult a job it would be. I picked a small area and pulled up all the balsam. The picture below on the left was in May 2009 and on the right is May 2010. I spent 4 hours in 2009 and just 30 minutes in 2010. Therefore it is possible to tackle this problem.
Himalayn Balsam has spread enormously across the LNR and has threatened to take over the grassland which is great for wildlife and popular for exercise especially among dog walkers. It is also moving into the woodlands. In 2010, we performed a mixture of hand pulling, chemical spraying and strimming on the LNR.The wildlife on the LNR is built upon the biodiversity of the plants:
The meadow:
If you want to help save the LNR join us and pull up the balsam.
We have been getting some areas under control with thanks to extra help from 1st Henllys Cubs and Beavers as well as Henllys CIW School. In 2016, we've used some of our Tesco SUCB funding to organise a series of team building activities which resulted in our largest ever area of hand pulling on the LNR and upstream of the LNR beyond the football field. There are parts of the LNR where woodland plants are returning, but there is still much work to be done.
