invasive plants

[gb]

around my area there is quite a big problem with laurel and rhododendron. one of the 'my' woods has loads of the stuff and the foresters don't seem to do anything about it. loads of other woods have this problem aswell and i spend most of my time at work experience cutting it down.

do you have much prblem with stuff like this i nthe rest of the country?
i know Scotland and Wales have a far bit of rhody.


cheers gb

 

[Adi007]

i know Scotland and Wales have a far bit of rhody.

It's a real menace in Wales now, especially North Wales. I took a trip to Betws y Coed the other day and I was horrified to see how much of it there was - rhody and ragwort. There used to be an initiative to get rid of it but it seems to have failed miserably. There are literally miles of it visible where it has to be well over 10 feet tall. A little is nice to look at but when it gets to that stage it's way too much :-(

 

[ditchfield]

Not much round here.
Did anyone see the program about Kew gardens ont telly? It had a reconstruction of something like the first discovery of rhododendron. The discoverer walked over the ridge of a mountain and was presented by a brightly coloured forest of them. Impressive.

 

[Brynglas]

In my area of South West Wales it's mostly japanese knotweed and horses tail that causes a problem, realy pernicious stuff. I have to agree that rhododendron is a real problem in many places but it is only one variety out of hundreds that spreads in the way that it does, causing a real problem even as far north as Skye

 

[bushwacker bob]

Rododendron Ponticum is the invasive one.Its become a real plague in the new forest and a few years ago they had a big clear out but its back in force. As for the ragwort, thats a national scandal.Its illegal to knowingly growing on your land under the dangerous weeds act of 1958 but as it grows prolifically on motorway verges and roadsides ALL local and county councils would have to prosecute themselves. :roll:

 

[Buckshot]

Alot of the larger shooting estates have areas of Laurel and/or Rhody, because it's good cover for pheasants.
It's easy for the birds to move around under the canopy but difficult for bigger predators (foxs), and the canopy provides cover from overhead.

The first estate I worked on had a area of Laurel which was a pig to beat through because it was so thick, you'd often walk straight into trunks 6 inchs in diameter without seeing them

They do need regular management to keep them under control though.

Cheer

Mark

 

[Realgar]

Himalaya balsam's the main culprit in our area - it's starting to show up in dry conditions as well. With the coppicing we also have a campaign against the sycamore - rhody was removed about 10 years ago.
Realgar

 

[jakunen]

Rhodys, Japanese knotgrass, Himalyan balsam, all a pain in the :***: aroudn my way.

Am often tempted to try and poison the damn things, but unfortunately I'm too responsible to do anything like that, no matter how much I HATE the damn thi ngs

 

[Tantalus]

pigs are sposed to be good at controling rhodies

as well as scratching around in the leaf litter and making perfect sites for our own native seedlings to sprout

re-introduce wild boars to the uk

Tant

 

[RovingArcher]

Dang, if they reintroduced wild boar to your lands, then they'd have to reintroduce hunting, cause the critter breeds like crazy and can have a ton of piglets in a litter. With no natural predators they'd soon be out of control.

You can help to eliminate your ragwort by cutting off the flower tops so the plant won't go to seed.


Here's the culprit in our neck of the woods. It grows everywhere along roads and in some areas have completely taken over pastures.

 

[jakunen]

There are already a number of 'escaped' wild boar in the woods. IIRC a farmer was accused of deliberately releasing them as he jumped the gun and started breeding them before there as a market. He staunchly denies it and says that they either escaped on their own or 'eco-warriors' let them out to 'save their bacon'.

 

[Lurch]

Some good sport to be had with wild boar.
Can be dangerous though - big tusky things. On the continent they have driven wild boar shoots, sometimes with shotgun. Imagine a big boar coming crashing through the undergrowth at a fair lick in your direction - I'd be too frit to get off a clean shot.
A clean shot with a heavy round, high seats (as sometimes used for deer) are an advantage.
There are areas where wild boar are said to be breeding in the south east, couldn't tell you exactly where though.

 

[jakunen]

Hey, in northern Michigan they use x-bows and long bows to hunt them! (Think they go up into Canada IIRC).:yikes:

Give me a 30-06 any time!!!

 

[Lurch]

I have heard of people using knives. Bonkers.

 

[gb]

thats the problem with all these plants - they have no natural control measures here, jakunen i agree with you about poisoning plants, its not very green but imo ts the only way to ensure that say rhody is totally cleared from an area, otherwise it has to be cut back each year. i think in the long term its better for the environment but thats just my view.

cheers gb

 

[jakunen]

Saw an interesting Gardeners World(?) with Chris Beardshaw down your, GB, about how the National Trust is trying to deal with the Hottentot Figs that are completely taking over the cliffs and destroying the native flora and so incidentally impacting the fauna too. They can't spray so they have to rope up and clear the plants, and the leaf litter (up to 8" thick) by hand...

 

[gb]

saw that too, it was down on the lizard i think. they said that they didnt mind that it grew back a bit after because it looks nice for the tourists! ive done some voluntary work for the nat trust and they do all they can to control invasive species of flora and fauna, whereas other organisations like the forestry comm seem to just ignore it.

cheers gb

 

[Kath]

Ooh I remember the Hottentot Fig from my trip to the Lizard last year. It was everywhere ... mind you it was pretty though! But that's the problem isn't it ... :roll:

 

[Realgar]

A further problem with the boar is that apparently our native strain was much smaller than the ones now farmed which are of Polish stock. I've seen them around in Warwickshire and some of them are enormous - kind of chest height to a human.

Hottentot fig - well you can eat the fruit, the leaves are edible but too high is oxalate for my taste, you can also spilt and dry the leaves and use them in smoking mixtures - they're very sweet on a pipe.

 

[Burnt Ash]

There are areas where wild boar are said to be breeding in the south east, couldn't tell you exactly where though.

Not far from us around Tenterden in Kent. As I recall, there were some 'escapes' resulting from damage caused by the Hurricane in October 1987. Some estimates a few years ago put the wild population in this area at >300.

Burnt Ash