How to kill Himalayan Balsam

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How to kill Himalayan Balsam

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lowri

Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Posts: 1322
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 16 10:37 am Post subject: How to kill Himalayan Balsam

I was invaded by this stuff after a friend gave me some hazel saplings, freshly dug up, it must have come in then and I never noticed until Too Late! Now it's rampant. I pull it up all the time and stick it in old feed sacks to rot, but it's now gone beyond that. I try to catch it before it flowers, but they are like triffids and I swear they walk!
Apart from hard graft, anyone got any ideas? I know it's a shame, because the bees love it, but I can't go on like this.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 16 1:50 pm Post subject:
Googling seems to reckon pulling it up is best. Glyphosphate will kill it too.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46248
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 16 3:08 pm Post subject:
the seeds can last many years so best bet is to kill it before it flowers every year till no more germinates. pull,squash or smother are effective.poison has issues but whatever means of death you use it will take a few years.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 16 3:16 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

the seeds can last many years

2 years max apparently. But there are tonnes of them/plant so you need to be very aggressive/thorough with your weeding.
@Lowri is there a conservation group or similar near you who might be up for descending mob-handed on the problem?

furbelows22

Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Posts: 5

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 17 12:27 pm Post subject:
Cover them with plastic sheeting while spraying, and only remove it once the spray has dried on the weed foliage. It may take a couple of seasons to obtain good control of Himalayan balsam, as additional weed seedlings germinate after the parent plants are killed off.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 17 5:41 pm Post subject:
I'm told the seeds make a very fine oil, if you can find a sensible way to harvest a decent quantity.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 17 5:42 pm Post subject:
They're annual so I don't see the real point of spraying. Keep pulling, do not let them flower. Perhaps a plastic sheet over the area would kill a big patch -but let them germinate first, else the existing seeds will just wait until the plastic comes off

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 17 6:49 pm Post subject:
Keep ducks. Every growing thing dies under a duck. They stink though. Our new phrase for anything gross is 'ducksgusting' Is there anything that eats it? My alpacas escape into the garden to eat bindweed. I'm delighted.

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