Himalayan Balsam is an invasive non-native species, which harms native habitats, overwhelming other plants, shading them out and stopping them growing. The plant explodes seeds outwards so they spread readily and are often carried on watercourses. The plants disappear completely in winter, leaving the soil bare and subject to erosion, filling watercourses with soil and harming river habitat.
Our village has increasing amounts of Himalayan Balsam, which is especially notable in the Summer in the woods around the Station Road end of the Gary Wright Way path, and the link path to Station Road.
A group of local volunteers has been set up to reduce the balsam and limit its impact on the local environment.
Our first step is to map the location of the balsam in the Strathblane Community Council area. At the moment it’s easy to see because of the purple flowers, which should be visible for a few more weeks.
The plant is an annual therefore can be removed if we prevent re-seeding, plus as we are located at the top of the Blane catchment, we should not be re-infested from areas upstream and our actions can benefit areas downstream.
Once the mapping is complete, and we have taken expert advice, we aim to start a programme next year involving safe removal, ongoing monitoring, and the planting of native species instead.
It is important we find all of it to prevent re-infestation therefore we are looking for Himalayan Balsam spotters in the community to help us track it down! If you can help, please send the location (a street name, location point on your phone, a grid reference or a ‘what.three.words’ reference) plus a photo showing the balsam coverage to: mapbalsam@strathblanecdt.org or you can mark the location on paper maps that will be available in the library.
Thank you.