In the news
Interesting little article in the Greenock Tele! Did you know you can be fined for having this in your garden! Good news is we’re working on removing it from Skelmorlie.
Working on the patch
We’ve been working hard to eradicate a Himalayan Balsam patch from the top of the football pitches next to the forest. Some of the early plants are already forming their flowers, and I’d estimate within the next two weeks it will be in full bloom! There’s a bit of time pressure to try and remove it before it flowers, as it’s incredibly successful at spreading. If we can get it all, then next year it will be drastically reduced and we’ll be a lot closer to our goal.
We’d love some help! Wednesday & Friday at 2pm.
We thought we were almost finished with just a few helpers, but unfortunately, it has spread further than we had initially thought. We would appreciate a little support from more people, as we’ve seen that there are lots of big ones hiding in the bracken, alongside the banks of the burn, and into the forest.
There are a few of us going out on Wednesday and Friday afternoon this week. Let us know if you can come and help for an hour. Or please just have a little look yourself on the next walk and pull any you see.
Together we can really make a difference!
What Himalayan Balsam looks like
It starts out green and as it gets closer to flowering turns reddish in colour. It pulls out very easily and the stems are straight and fragile.
Pulling Himalayan Balsam
It comes up very, very easily, just pull firmly from the base. As long as it hasn’t flowered, you can just leave the plant where you pulled it, and nature will quickly take care of it!
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