Join us for Balsam Bashing July 2021 - Enrol now for a countryside cleanup freeing up our waterways of the invasive Himalayan Balsam plant.
Join members of the Conservative Association including (pictured) Jeff Wilton-Love, Councillor Andrew Saywell (county councillor for Torrington), David Jones (district councillor for Holsworthy), to “pull/cut/stomp”.
This invasive plant which might look pretty but destroys the banks with shallow roots and overcrowds countryside and verges, shutting out local indigenous Flora. You cannot move it, it needs to be destroyed and left to dry in situ, and must be done before the seedpod heads form, which is what our team did late summer 2020 along the banks of the river Torridge near Sheepwash.
You can read more here about why Himalayan Balsam is such a problem and why it is so important to get rid of it as soon as you see it, but it has to be treated in a very special way. It is illegal to move it or add it to compost. It is not toxic, it’s quite pretty actually, but left unchecked will take over in years to come.
So how should it be?
Our UK countryside should be full of our own wild flowers – watch this video to see how the Plantlife campaign is restoring verges and meadows. Hopefully one day we can do the same in Devon.
Register now by emailing [email protected]
Or if you:
- know locations where we can find this plant in abundance
- own land where it’s rampant and would like help to remove this plant,
- or you know somebody who might,
please contact us.
We will be arranging groups of Balsam Bashers, across one weekend next July, so register now and let us know where we can find this plant.
Andrew Saywell
Its clear this is a very invasive species but also quite easy to get rid of, it doesn’t take a huge amount of time and if we all put in a bit of effort we can help protect our countryside.
David Jones
Speedy, satisfying and simple: a couple of hours well spent helping to protect our countryside.
Jeff Wilton Love
It felt good to get out in the open and to see what can be accomplished, I felt very positive we can have a real impact on this invasive species looking ahead.
If you would like to take part, contact Debbie now -
Fundraising@torridgeandWestDevon Conservatives.org
Nb the weeding /balsam-bashing sessions have to be done before the seeds grow into exploding pods, so contact us soon for 2020. Or early for summer 2021