Himalayan Basalm

Himalayan Basalm was introduced to the UK in 1839, cultivated for its pretty snap dragon style flowers. It has now become an invasive weed along the UK's riverbanks and waste spaces. It grows to 2m in height, tolerates low light levels, grows rapidly and spreads quickly, shading existing vegitation, smothering it and dominating the river bank. Once seeds form it has an aggresive method of distribution, ripe pods explode scattering their 600+ seeds to a distance of 7 metres. It's love of river banks further distributes seeds downstream.

Currently the Water of Leith Conservation Trust is trying to minimise this weed on the river banks through intensive pulling of plants before seeds are produced.


Today I went along to my first River Patrol meeting. River Patrol Volunteers adopt a stretch of river and once a week, patrol it to check for any problems (fallen trees, litter, dog poo, pollution, vandalism, overgrown vegetation etc), note position of invasive species (Himalayan Basalm, Giant Hogweed, Japanese Knotweed, Mink) and monitor walkway usage, wildlife and protected species (otters and bats). At the meeting I learnt the position of the elusive kingfishers which I have heard so much about but never seen for myself. I also learnt about the stocking of fish in the river and the flood defense works that are currently being carried out. I got a new map of the river and am now looking forward to getting out on my first patrol. My main zones will be 7 and 8 as they're either side of the canal but once my feet improve (or The Boy fixes the bike up) I'll be able to do some other zones too.

I plan to get myself a log book to save constantly printing out the patrol sheets and accumulated photos or pictures of the plants and wildlife I should be looking out for. After all, I have no idea what river lamprey look like or the difference between a water vole and water shrew.