At the start of what has proven to be a scorcher of a weekend, 7 members of GoodGym Richmond gathered at the Ham Lands for our monthly task supporting the good works of the FOHL.

Because of the delayed summer the traditional season of balsam bashing had been delayed but the time had finally come. For the uninitiated, Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species which grows and spreads very rapidly near our waterways, choking other plant growth and generally being a bit of a nuisance.

Sharon led us through the woods down to the riverside and along the path looking for clumps of the pesky stuff...but the late change of season had taken its toll and not much was there to be found. Eventually Chris and JP tackled some growing in a marshy area off the path, while the rest of the group started work on a clump of other overgrown riverside weeds close to the water's edge.

There, the main task was to chop the heads off the stems of the plants, preventing them from spreading the seeds they were carrying and thus multiplying along the river bank. Fortunately there were plenty of pairs of secateurs on hand and soon the group was making excellent progress.

We did find a bit more balsam hiding behind some trees so we dealt with that too, creating a nice pile to pose with for our group shot before heading off for various plans in the sweltering heat.

Next time at Ham Lands will be on 8th July - sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-05fd456f-b500-47b5-a6fe-691f09f8b63c