are you anywhere near a river bank allan? if not, why destroy such a pretty plant? I dont think it has been definitively proven that the fragile root system of this plant causes erosion anyway - the thinking is that it's a strong grower with a shallow root system & it stops native plants from taking hold so their strong british roots cant work miracles in stopping the riverbank falling away! There's always somebody hating something isnt there.
There is a lot near the Trent, near us. The conservation lot tend to have a go at removing it each year. The problem is that it forms such big stands of it,that nothing will grow beneath it, and it is of little use to wildlife. Of course, they miss a few each year, and the floods spread the seeds far and wide.
are you anywhere near a river bank allan? if not, why destroy such a pretty plant? I dont think it has been definitively proven that the fragile root system of this plant causes erosion anyway - the thinking is that it's a strong grower with a shallow root system & it stops native plants from taking hold so their strong british roots cant work miracles in stopping the riverbank falling away! There's always somebody hating something isnt there.
I live a mile from the river - I have read up on it and I will cut the flowers before it sets seed and see how I get on
dolgarrog - The density at which himalayan balsam grows is a problem. It shades out everything else when it creates a 'stand'. Near here you end up with bare river banks - even the grasses get out-competed. Bare river banks in winter are quite prone to erosion. The shallow, limited root system of himalayan balsam provides little stability to river banks (or any area where it becomes established) even when it is growing during the warmer months.
At our last house a neighbour (tenant) sowed a few balsam seeds.
The following year we had it in our garden, by the following year it was in gardens all around us. I pulled up every one I found but well after the neighbour had moved on the balsam was still appearing.
The garden next door was chest high with a solid field of balsam.
The landlord had to have contractors in to cut it down, lay a membrane and shingle the whole garden. Even then it still kept peeking up between the shingle and the fence.
We moved - it wasn't the entire reason, but ............................
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
It looks like himalayan balsam.A pest of river banks. Do you find the seed pods pop and propel seeds all over the place?
Yes that's the one - many thanks - It's comming out
good move allan
In the sticks near Peterborough
Good decision allan
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
are you anywhere near a river bank allan? if not, why destroy such a pretty plant? I dont think it has been definitively proven that the fragile root system of this plant causes erosion anyway - the thinking is that it's a strong grower with a shallow root system & it stops native plants from taking hold so their strong british roots cant work miracles in stopping the riverbank falling away! There's always somebody hating something isnt there.
There is a lot near the Trent, near us. The conservation lot tend to have a go at removing it each year. The problem is that it forms such big stands of it,that nothing will grow beneath it, and it is of little use to wildlife. Of course, they miss a few each year, and the floods spread the seeds far and wide.
I live a mile from the river - I have read up on it and I will cut the flowers before it sets seed and see how I get on
dolgarrog - The density at which himalayan balsam grows is a problem. It shades out everything else when it creates a 'stand'. Near here you end up with bare river banks - even the grasses get out-competed. Bare river banks in winter are quite prone to erosion. The shallow, limited root system of himalayan balsam provides little stability to river banks (or any area where it becomes established) even when it is growing during the warmer months.
The plant is (I think) an annual.
At our last house a neighbour (tenant) sowed a few balsam seeds.
The following year we had it in our garden, by the following year it was in gardens all around us. I pulled up every one I found but well after the neighbour had moved on the balsam was still appearing.
The garden next door was chest high with a solid field of balsam.
The landlord had to have contractors in to cut it down, lay a membrane and shingle the whole garden. Even then it still kept peeking up between the shingle and the fence.
We moved - it wasn't the entire reason, but ............................
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.