Shropshire riverbanks taken over by pink alien invasion

Environmental experts have declared war on the Himalayan Balsam – a three-metre high menace that is zapping space, light and nutrients from resident plants, leaving them fighting for their lives.

The pink and white slipper shaped flowers may look pretty but those tempted to touch will witness a powerful flicking action which spreads seeds metres away.

And with each plant able to produce up to 800 seeds a year – these beastly blooms are rapidly dominating our watersides.

Areas hit the hardest by this foreign foe include Ketley Brook, in Telford, Reabrook in Shrewsbury, parts of Bridgnorth and the Corvedale in South Shropshire.

Experts have mapped 41km of the pink pest along the River Clun, the River Redlake and Hopesay.

And officers in Clun have got straight to the root of the problem by pulling up eight kilometres of the beastly bloom around the town.

The next plan of attack will see farmers, landowners and riverside residents being drafted in across Shropshire to help clear it out of their communities.

And the mission has gone high-tech, with a plant tracker app for smartphones so the public can tip off the authorities about the plant's whereabouts.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society: "The Himalayan balsam is a relative of the Busy Lizzie, but reaches well over head height, and is a major weed problem, especially on riverbanks and waste land, but can also invade gardens.

"It grows rapidly and spreads quickly, smothering other vegetation as it goes."

Vicki Howden Environmental Monitoring Officer in the Analysis and Reporting team, within The Environment Agency in, Shrewsbury said: "It's got really effective seed dispersal.

"It's quite an attractive pendulous seed pod but as you soon as you touch it, it curls up and flicks out the seeds a few metres.

"It's quite a week plant it's very shallow rooted and quite hollow so it's very easy to control by pulling it up. There's just so much of it.

"It's got quite a strong soapy smell – some people love it and some people hate it. It tends to dominate across the river banks and when it dies away in the winter it leave the soil bare and increases the erosion of river banks, which has consequences for wildlfe.

"The seeds wash down stream so it's all over Shropshire. I can't think of an area that hasn't got it.

"Where is has not taken too much of a hold we are encouraging communities to hand pull it starting at the top of the catchment, pulling out as much as they can by the roots.

"The Environment Agency, Bristol University and the Non-Native Species Secretariat have launched a plant tracker for members of the public to download onto their smartphone and make a record of where the Himalayan Balsam is growing.

"Areas we know it is growing include the River Tern catchment in north Shrophire, The River Worfe Catchment in east Shropshire, Ketley Brook, The Rea Brook in Shrewsbury, west Shropshire, and the River Corve catchment in South Shropshire. There is a map of results which shows where it has been found so we can build up a picture of where it is."

Mike Kelly, River Valleys Officer for the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, said: "From June onwards people may have noticed a pink tinge to the landscape of the Shropshire Hills.

"Himalayan Balsam is the culprit, now highly visible due to its pink to white slipper-shaped flowers.

"Our survey this summer shows that unfortunately the plant occurs along an astounding 41km of the River Clun, River Unk, River Kemp, River Redlake and Hopesay Brook, though thankfully in relatively narrow bands."

Mike said: "We are currently devising a strategy for the control of Himalayan Balsam in the Clun catchment.

"There is no doubt that the co-operation of farmers, landowners and riverside householders will be key to getting to grips with the problem. Controlling the plant is quite straightforward, but as an annual the most important thing is to prevent mature plants from seeding. Each plant can produce somewhere in the region of 800 seeds, which is 800 new plants that have potential to grow in the place of one the following year.

"Being by the river, water is a key means by which the seeds are transported, which is why it can spread so rapidly in the catchment."

The Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership is encouraging the public to do their bit in getting on top of the problem.

"Where it is safe to do so plants can simply be uprooted by hand-pulling before seed sets, a time consuming, but by far the most effective way to control this alien invader," added Mike.

For more details on how to control Himalayan Balsam visit www.shropshirehillsaonb.co.uk/himalayanbalsam

To download the app search for Plant Tracker on your app store or visit www.planttracker.naturelocator.org/ where you can make a record and view the map of results