Were takin’ over the world and no-one can stop us…!
The problem with poor landscape management and a lack of weed control is the rapidity at which things get out of hand. The type of plants that are often featured in this newsletter such as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan balsam, Giant Hogweed, Ragwort etc , are all designed with one thing in mind – massive growth and spread. They are called ‘invasive’ because that’s exactly what they will do – invade – and destroy our native habitats growing to the preclusion of all of our native species.
If you ignore a small patch of Japanese Knotweed on a piece of unmaintained ground, by the following season it can have spread upwards of ten metres in all directions. The following season it will do the same again, and again the year after till there is simply tons of the stuff.
Giant Hogweed and Himalayan balsam produce literally thousands and thousands of seeds which even after years of chemical treatment will lie dormant waiting for the correct conditions to germinate. Estimates suggest that unmanaged balsam will spread up to 20 metres in all directions per season due to the highly evolved mechanism its has for ejecting seed from its flower heads.
Ragwort has recently been highlighted by the British Horse Society as killing hundreds of horses every year. Yet even with this raised profile, 2010 has seen a massive increase in the yellow rosettes of Ragwort in almost every piece of unmanaged ground.
What worries me with all of these plants - is that we know the Government is looking to cut budgets. We know Local Authorities have less money to spend and we know where the money will be cut – there will be less weed control and less landscape management. This will lead to our countryside and urban areas being over run by invasive plants.
So make the most of your countryside whilst you still can, as in ten years time… all you will see will be Ragwort, Himalayan balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Giant hogweed…!
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