Introduced to this country in 1839 as an ornamental plant Himalayan balsam quickly spread along waterways. Growing up to 2m tall it out-competes native flowers and it’s shallow root system does little to stabalise the banks of streams when it dies back in the winter.
A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds that can float downstream and populate new areas so it’s important to identify and target instances in the upper reaches of streams first to have any kind of impact.
In 2022 the Environment Agency funded the LCSP to carry out a survey of Himalayan balsam on one of Lincolnshire’s chalk streams, the River Waring.
Once the extent of the balsam was determined contractors, Lions Environmental Ltd, were employed to tackle the plant using hand-pulling and spot spraying before the plant went to seed.
To have the most impact the treatment was started at the first instance in the upper reaches near Belchford.
Subsequently in 2023, 2024 and 2025 work was undertaken by contractors to tackle the plant along the River Waring. Landowners were incredibly helpful in allowing access where necessary and volunteers played an important role in hand-pulling the balsam at specific sites.
In 2025 the LCSP surveyed the river and its tributaries again.
Instances of Himalayan balsam had been reduced by 63%
The LCSP hopes to continue the work on the River Waring and replicate this approach on other Lincolnshire chalk streams
