Council Excel

Himalayan Balsam

Mr Fraser's  Highland Council Parks dept have to be commended for their prompt removal of the Himalayan Balsam that was beside the old gasworks site. After my request earlier in the year they sprayed the young Balsam, but some of it remained and was now flowering profusely. I asked only a couple of days ago if they could remove the remainder before it went to seed, and was pleasantly surprised to see the Council workmen remove all the invaders this morning, in spite of the miserable wet weather! I have already sprayed or removed all the giant hogweed that was in this location, and will continue to do so. The river is badly infested with alien species and urgently needs this to be tackled in a serious way ! The seeding of these species is second to none, and really need serious opposition to eradicate them !

Giant Hogweed flowers

The Long Wait

The weather does not bode well in the short term, with forecasts of cold and snow on the way again. This will hit any new ducklings about to hatch, after all the good weather in March. Lack of insects and warmth is bad news for any new ducklings during April. The swans have now settled into the long incubation period, and Popeye can now take time out to fully recover. The foot injury is now healing over with scar tissue and he is looking really healthy. The patch of sprouting Himalayan balsam that was sprayed has all but died, but a few small bit's have been missed, I might pull them out by hand later on. Doing the right thing at the right time saves time and money.

One Years Seeding = 7 Years Weeding

Gardeners will be familiar with the title of this post, and with the new Blitz planned on eradicating the alien species, a start could be made now. I noticed the Himalayan balsam seed is germinating nicely all over the place. Behind the old gasworks site has a profusion of double leaves that could be easily eradicated, by one man in 10 minutes with a sprayer of round up or similar. To that end, I have sent an email with photo to John Fraser in the hope that he will eradicate this small area. It was mid January that Mr Frasers men spent several days chopping the roses and shrubs that harboured the small birds. All that's needed this time is one man for 10 minutes with a sprayer, surely better than 4 men later in the year tackling 6 feet high balsam !