Bonus Balsam

We had thought last week was the final Himalayan balsam bash of the season, but Stroud Valleys Project had one more site up their sleeve.

It really is late by now. Most of the flowers have turned to seed and they pop just by touching sometimes. But there was a stretch by where the brook and new canal meet which would be worth some extra control in order to keep it down in this area next year.

Shears were definitely the tool of choice just to snip the upper part of the plant. It’s so late in season, flowers won’t regrow and the whole annual plant will have disappeared by October anyway. So the objective today was to prevent less seed dropping and germinating than would be the case if allowed to drop naturally during September.

By lunchtime we had completed the stretch, so we sat in a pleasant spot next to the canal and ate lunch. There was an option of de-camping to another nearby site, but the energy levels were not creating enough enthusiasm so we dispersed afterward for the afternoon.