Stroud Valleys Project volunteers were barely visible in the Himalayan Balsam jungle at the Lake at the Lawns, when they cleared this invasive species during a habitat workshop. The group were amazed to discover a plant which grew to a whopping 303cm.
Ivi Szaboova, SVP’s biodiversity officer, explained: “Himalayan balsam is not native to Britain and it spreads rapidly along our riverbanks, suffocating native vegetation. One plant produces up to 800 seeds which can germinate under water and are viable for up to 18 months. The seedpods only have to be gently touched to make them ‘explode’ and scatter the seeds up to 7m. Once the plants die down, they leave riverbanks bare and this contributes to erosion of the soil.
It grows 1-2m high but we have never seen one as tall as the plant found by SVP volunteers.”
To find out more about Stroud Valleys Project’s work at the greenspaces around Stroud and Cainscross, contact Ivi Szaboova on 01453 753358.
daughter when they were stopped by Mark and Karen Coldrick. They were carrying a lunch box with a slow-worm, which their son Joe found on the pavement. Ivi said: “Slow-worms look a bit like snakes, but are actually legless lizards. The easiest way to tell them apart is by taking a quick peak at their eyes: lizards have lids while snakes are lidless. This slow-worm looked very fat so it could have been a pregnant female. They give birth to live young and are often seen basking in the sun on a warm road in the days before giving birth.” 
Shop Local campaign from the start and is a major funder of town centre events, initiatrives and improvements. Town Mayor Andy Read (pictured left at the town's weekly Farmers Market) said: "It's fantastic to see such partnership working going on between traders in our town. This is exactly the sort of innovative idea that will continue to set Stroud apart from the clone towns we see elsewhere."
17 adults and 7 children gave up their Sunday morning lie-in to make a bog garden at their local greenspace. People learnt which damp-loving flowers to plant and how to squeeze a colourful squelchy bit of ground even into a tiny garden. Bog gardens can help ‘little dragons’ like newts and reptiles like grass snakes flourish in urban areas where they may be scarce. We planted Marsh marigold, Yellow flag iris, Ragged-robin, Red campion and Purple- loosestrife. ”