I've been admiring these plants growing all along the edges of Beverly Brook all summer but I heard the park rangers were trying to control an outbreak of Himalayan Balsam and I wondered what that looks like so I googled it and, oh shit, it's those pretty pink things – or at least I think so. Am I right? Should I sneer at them next time I jog past?
BTW, I think their plan sounds silly.
Unfortunately, we can only pull it up to mid-July as it then starts going to seed and we risk spreading it even further.
I mean… If they are seeding, isn't that all the more reason to get in there, cut the seed pods off, bag them and yank the plants? Otherwise aren't the seeds just going to do what seeds do? There are loads there now.
by EnglebondHumperstonk
3 Comments
_Impatiens glandulifera_ (Himalayan Balsam).
You are right to say that bagging the seeds and removing the plants would be ideal, but doing that on a large scale is probably not feasible for the local government.
It is Himalayan balsam.
The trouble with cutting seed pods off of this particular plant, is that the pods explode when you touch them. If they have the time & resources, something along the lines of bagging each pod while it’s immature then pulling the plant whole could be effective.
Tbf what they are saying is exactly what the official guidelines recommend.
Bagging could work but you would have to be super careful not to knock nearby plants while doing it and as others have said, doing it on a large scale wouldn’t really be feasible. Technically if you caused a seed pod to expel seed into the river and it went downstream and grew on someone else’s property then you would be in breach of the law (not that it wouldn’t happen naturally but it wouldn’t be your fault then).
They have very short roots so the easiest way to remedy is to go in late spring when you can see them but they haven’t started to seed yet and rip them out en masse by hand.
On a side note, one of the reasons they are a problem is because of their crappy roots, they out compete native species whose root systems are helping to support the banks and then the banks collapse.
Edit: just realised this is whatsthisplant, the legal bit is UK specific, not sure what the law would be elsewhere.