We received the following message a couple of weeks ago from Alan Bowring of BBNPA, requesting that anyone heading to Llygad Llwchwr in the near future might assist with destroying some Himalayan Balsam plants near the Llwchwr 2 shake-hole:
“I found myself back at Llygad Llwchwr today and noticed a number of Himalayan balsam plants in the vicinity of the Llygad Llwchwr 2 shake-hole. I was able to uproot five of them that had sprouted on the western rim of the doline but, given that my companion was in a hurry to get back to Cardiff, I was unable to finish the job off and wouldn’t want them to set seed which I expect they will do shortly. If you’re aware of any SWOAPG members who might be heading that way very shortly, I wonder if they might be persuaded to do the right thing?! The remaining ones are in the south-eastern corner of the adjacent field at SN 6706 1774 near the start of the descent path though it’s always possible that more lurk nearby. Would be good to eradicate these before they spread.”
It may already be too late (if they’ve already gone to seed – our fault for being slow to respond) but any assistance with this would be appreciated.
PS there are also plenty of these invasive plants around on the riverbanks and in our gorges at the moment, so please feel free to destroy them wherever you see them – ideally uproot the plants, snap them in half and hang them on a fence or leave on a rock to dry out and die.
If you’re not sure what they look like, checkout Himalayan balsam – CABI.org)!