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Tag Archives: derbyshire county council

Remaining July Balsam Dates Confirmed

10 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Events, Plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

biodiversity, conservation, derbyshire county council

Here are the remaining balsam bashing dates this month:
Saturday 11th July,11:00-13:00, Mousley Bottom, meet at DCC Rangers Hut
Saturday 18th July,11:00-13:00, The Picker, meet at old Pineapple Pub, Salem Bridge
Sunday 19th July, 10:30-12:30, Mousley Bottom, meet at DCC Rangers Hut
Sunday 26th July, 11:00-13:00, Mousley Bottom, meet at DCC Rangers Hut

Everyone who attends will be entered into the raffle for coffee and cake for 4, and other prizes.

Hope to see you there!

Help Tackle the Invaders in 2015

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Events, Plants

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

biodiversity, conservation, derbyshire county council

The Himalayan Balsam is off and growing now, and here’s what you can do to help Transition New Mills manage it:

  • At a Transition Balsam Bash: next session 11-12:30, Sunday 14th June, meet at Torrs Hydro’s Archie in the Torrs Park. Easier with stout footwear, long sleeves and gardening gloves (some gloves can be provided for those without, courtesy of our DCC Greenwatch Action Grant). Further sessions will be arranged, and we hope to be able to offer some incentives to join in!
  • Informal Bashes: email transition.newmills@gmail.com to be added to an informal network of people who may call for help or company on odd occasions when they are able to go out. This was probably the most effective method we used last year, and was often at relatively short notice.
  • Pledge to Pick a Patch: choose an area of land you want to commit to clear and keep balsam-free. You can do it on your own, or with friends, at times to suit you before it sets seed. Tell us where it is so we can plot where the plant is being managed, and give you due credit!
  • Pick Whilst you Walk: suitable for dogwalkers and ramblers especially, keep those favourite walks balsam free by picking as you go. Keep a look out for separate newer patches which need tackling now before they get out of control

If you know of any people or groups which may want to get involved, please let them and us know! And we’d love to hear how you’re getting on. The rules for picking are very easy:

  • Identify it: this is what the plant looks like, although it can grow up to 2m tall. It has pinky-white fragrant flowers from July:HB

Note: don’t pull anything up if you aren’t sure about it. In particular, don’t touch Japanese Knotweed, another resilient invader which can spread easily by regenerating from little scraps, and is best treated by professionals.

  • Pull it: it comes out really easily, with very shallow roots. Only pull it before it has set seed though, or else it will fling its seeds around when disturbed, spreading the problem further.
  • Crush it: crush the stem between roots and first set of leaves, or it may try to regrow

Transition New Mill’s priority areas this year will focus on:

  • The Sett Valley, from Archie in the Torrs upstream towards Hayfield
  • The Goyt Valley, from Archie in the Torrs upstream towards the railway viaduct at Goytside Farm
  • Mousley Bottom, along the river and valley bottom, in conjunction with Derbyshire County Council

Look out for further events and news on this topic on the blog; in the meantime, go to it, bashers!

Balsam Bashing Cash Boost!

19 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Funding, Plants

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

biodiversity, conservation, derbyshire county council

I’m delighted to be able to tell you that Transition New Mills has been given a £500 Greenwatch Action Grant from Derbyshire County Council for the Tackling Invaders project to help us step up our efforts to deal with Himalayan Balsam this year.

This will enable us to:

  • purchase protective equipment such as gauntlets
  • publicise the project better
  • run more events for the public by providing insurance cover

This is great news and a testament to the support of those who made the project a success last year. I hope we will be able to involve many more people this year and raise awareness to a wider audience.

If you can help out with organising the project, or if you have contacts in local groups who may be interested in participating (eg. landowners, scout groups, conservation groups, anglers, or anyone else) then we would love to hear from you.
The latest Project Plan can be seen here: Tackling Invaders Project Plan 2015. It’s likely that the first events will be held from June. If you’d like to be kept in touch more closely we have a separate email contact list for the Tackling Invaders project; let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com if you would like to be added to it.

Tackling Invaders

25 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bees, conservation, derbyshire county council, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, himalayan balsam, New Mills Town Council, plants

Take a country walk in summer and you will come across a fairly attractive plant with tall stems, green leaves ribbed with red veins, and profuse clusters of pinky white, fragrant flowers. If you’ve been walking for a few years you will also have noticed increasing amounts of it. In fact, so much so that the other plants you probably delighted in seeing are becoming more and more scarce as a result – check out the glorious woodland flowers at Etherow Country Park this May, for example, and between the bluebells, wild garlic, and red campion will be an emerging carpet of Himalayan Balsam, ready to overwhelm them; in some areas the bluebells have already disappeared.

But the problem isn’t just one of aesthetics and nostalgia. Its ability to rapidly colonise new areas is leading to a number of serious problems:

  • The eco-system can be significantly damaged as it out competes native flora for light, space and nutrients. This means large stands of Himalayan Balsam can develop, particularly on river banks, without native flora growing beneath them, reducing biodiversity and some of our most-loved native plants.
  • When plants die back in winter, soil, especially river banks, are bare and exposed, accelerating erosion and allowing sediment to enter the water, leading to land and habitat loss and potentially contributing to flooding downstream as channels silt up.
  • Although popular with bees when in flower, they may then not visit other plants as regularly meaning native plants may not get pollinated as often, and the reduction in the number of plant species means that nectar is less likely to be available for bees at other times of the year – a particular problem in the ‘June gap’.

It’s no surprise then that one of the most popular suggested projects in last year’s Make It Happen competition was dealing with invasive non-native species, including Himalayan Balsam. Transition New Mills has been working with member Richard Barnes, whose idea it was, to help make the project reality; and now we need your help!

With the help of Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and New Mills Town Council, we have developed a Tackling Invaders Project Plan to tackle these invaders. Working with other groups in neighbouring areas we hope to be able to make significant progress in reducing and keeping on top of the spread of Himalayan Balsam. It will be a long term endeavour, but other projects have shown it can be highly successful, as the plant is an annual and the seeds only remain viable for 2-3 years. Clearing can ideally take place between May and July, before it sets seed – see the Himalayan Balsam Management leaflet from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust which tells you how to recognise and manage the plant.

The Plan calls on local groups and people with an interest to come together in a systematic way to deal with the plants. This will be based on mapping and understanding where it occurs, and how much there is. Mapping could even be made easy with phone apps, so you can log it when you’re out and about. Then we can start to clear it out of certain areas, prioritising sites upstream and environmentally sensitive sites. It doesn’t take any specialist knowledge, just think of it as a great reason to get outside on a nice day!

If you’re interested in being involved with the project, either mapping or clearing it, please contact us, and we can get something going for when the plants start to grow from May.

 

 

 

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