• Himalayan Balsam was introduced to England in 1839. It has colonised river banks and other damp areas, suppressing our native grasses and flowers.
• It is a brilliant reproducer and is spreading fast, forming dense stands. When the plants die back in autumn, large areas of bare soil are left, leaving banks liable to erosion. Bees love it and neglect our native English flowers!
• Himalayan Balsam has been identified by UK Plant Life as one of the top 20 most invasive species threatening our native flora.

Description

• The hollow stems are pinkish, jointed and sometimes branched. The leaves are lance-shaped with serrated edges and have a red mid rib.
• Pink flowers appear from June to September. The seed pods form in August. They explode when touched and scatter seeds for many meters. The plant can grow fast to over 3 meters tall.
• The roots are soft and shallow, making it very easy to pull up.

Control

• Himalayan Balsam can be hand pulled from late May or early June. Care needs to be taken not to tread smaller plants into the ground as they root very easily from stem nodes. The pulled stems then need to be piled up well away from any watercourse, preferably on higher ground, where they will soon compost down. The plants then need to be repeat pulled at monthly intervals until the seeds form.
• Dense stands can be cut or “strimmed” at ground level several times during the growing season.
• Further back from the watercourses large areas can be sprayed with the appropriate licence.

What is the Lune Rivers Trust doing?

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are currently seeking funding for a Cumbria scheme to attack this problem, which would of course cover much of the Lune and many of its tributaries. They hope to be able to appoint an officer to carry out feasibility studies, map this species and produce the most effective plan for dealing with it. We plan to work together with the SCRT so that the scheme can follow the Lune and its tributarues into Lancashire and North Yorkshire. More updates to follow soon.