Himalayan Balsam pulling at Hackfall Woods: 11-06-2013

Today we had a good number of volunteers to carry out the task - Paul and his eleven NCVs were joined by four of the Hackfall volunteer group. We needed this kind of manpower as the job involved pulling up rather a lot of Himalayan Balsam, an invasive species that must be eradicated. For those readers who are wondering why we should want to do this I am including a website link that will explain it all far better than I can: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicweeds/weed_information/weed.php?id=96

Himalayan Balsam - a worm's eye view.

Some people argue that it is an excellent food source for bees but, unfortunately, that is its only redeeming feature. It is threatening to overtake Hackfall Woods and we need to get rid of it - and quickly. The aim is to stop it flowering and setting seed otherwise it spreads at a rapid rate of knots. 

Terry M. quite enjoyed the beginning of the day. It was his first time pulling balsam and the first patch we tackled seemed thin on the ground and easy to deal with. Hmmmmm. He soon changed his tune. After an hour the job starts to take its toll on the back muscles. As we moved down the boundary path we saw that the plants were getting more and more numerous; taller and taller. There was acres of the stuff. To add insult to injury it was growing amongst brambles. And nettles. And holly.

When they saw what lay ahead, Bobby and
Dean wished they had had a prior engagement

We took turns of collecting up the piles and transporting balsam in wheelbarrows to the boundary wall. There it could be dumped into compost heaps and chopped up with a spade to prevent the plants trying to make a come-back. 

Standing aside to make way for a speeding barrow, Graham takes the opportunity to straighten his back.

At lunch time one of these heaps came in handy as a nice soft sofa upon which we could eat our packed lunches. It was satisfying to know that we had got the better of that bit at least.

After lunch we decided to change tack as there was no way we could remove it all in the time we had left. We moved further into the wood to what appeared to be the edge of the infested area and started working backwards towards the boundary. That way, we thought, we could slow down the balsam's spread. However - it soon became apparent that the balsam was one step ahead of us. We were surrounded by it - this was certainly not the edge of the area! 

Hannah stands to take stock of the situation
- and despairs!

With just half an hour left, and our backs starting to complain bitterly, we tried yet another method: marching in a line and just trampling it down. This turned out to be an efficient way of dealing with the problem but whether or not it will have killed off the dratted stuff remains to be seen.

A view of the aftermath of the task - brambles still all standing.
Is that some balsam I can see? Paul - you've missed a bit!

Although Hackfall is a beautiful environment to work in there is one disadvantage - at the end of the day you have to toil back up the hill to the car park, carrying tools and pushing wheelbarrows. I think that Dave B. deserves special mention. Not only was he meticulous in removing the tiniest of balsam seedlings throughout the day but also pushed a barrow all the way up the hill by himself.

Some Tuesdays we go home knowing that we have finished a job. This was not one of those days. As I left the woods the wind was wafting through the remaining tracts of the weed that we never managed to reach and I could hear the sounds of yet more balsam seeds starting to germinate. I suppose that we have at least made a start. I think we said the same thing last year!

Ros (E)