Come along on the 1st July from 1000-1200 to help the Sheffield Ranger Service eradicate the Himalayan Balsam growing along our river banks!
Himalayan Balsam is an introduced plant which has escaped from gardens and is rapidly colonising river banks and other areas of damp ground. It is an annual plant which grows to about 2m with purplish-pink slipper shaped flowers in June to August. When seed pods are mature, they explode when touched, scattering the seed. It forms dense stands which suppresses the growth of grasses and native British plants leaving the banks bare of vegetation in Autumn and winter liable to erosion. Because Himalayan Balsam re-grows annually from seed, any form of control carried out after the seed pods have formed will have no effect.
Small infestations can be controlled by hand by pulling as the plant is shallow rooted. The seedbank lasts 18 months, so two years control should eradicate the plant. This is our 2nd Year!
Friends of Millhouses Park 
Did your balsam bash work?