Hardcastle Crags

by Colin, 6th June 2010, 11 Volunteers

The annual ‘Balsam Bash’ at Hardcastle attracted four locals, and three of them finished at lunch time. Those of us who persevered with Drew, the warden, were rewarded with a dry afternoon (it rained all morning but at least it was warm), some sunshine, and a patch of slightly taller plants to destroy – much easier on an aching back!

In 6 years of tenacious effort, Drew has seen a huge reduction in the amount of Balsam and some areas are now ‘completely’ free of it, giving the bluebells, wild garlic, mosses, ferns, and Rosebay Willow Herb a chance to flourish. In these areas, there are still a few individual plants, where seeds have been brought in by people or animals, but these are easy to spot and pull up on routine patrols. Here the vast and totally dominating swathes of Balsam are a thing of the past. Sylvia remarked that on a recent walk, a visitor had commented to her on the fantastic show of bluebells in the Hardcastle woods this year.

For those of you who are thinking about coming next year, it is extremely rewarding work and if you don’t already know, the thing with Balsam is that its seed pods open explosively when ripe, shooting their seeds up to 7m (22ft) away. Each plant can produce up to 800 seeds, so it is vital to destroy them before this occurs.