1. White Butterbur Control Trials
River Fiddich
Spey Catchment

2. White Butterbur (Petasites Albus)
Introduced in the 1600’s, Invasive in NE Scotland from late 1800’s
Rhizomatous plant with dense foliage and early White flowers (Feb/Mar)
Little research on impacts and control to date
Favours open riparian woodland

3. Potential Impacts Huge loss of biodiversity
River bank destabilisation, increased sedimentation of watercourses
Significant threat to long term health of riparian woodland

4. Addressing Control - Field study
Extent of infestation on Fiddich so large reluctant to use Herbicide alone
Two trial sites on the Fiddich established to test alternative treatment methods in the hope of creating effective management advise
Each site divided in to 24 4mx4m plots with buffer zones in between
Methods tested: Herbicide application, Digging and Strimming

5. Initial Observations Method Time taken (av) Comments
Glyphosate Max concentration
< 5 mins
>98% effective
Glyphosate 50%
Digging – Remove Rhizomes
130 mins
% effective – Large variance across plots
Digging – Rhizomes left insitu
63 mins
40-60% effective - Suspect strong regrowth later
Strimming – Removing Cuttings
No measurable effect on density
Strimming – Cuttings Left
Work was carried out in August favouring herbicide application against strimming
Plots will be strimmed in April/May in 2019 to ascertain whether earlier/repeat treatment effective
Digging highly dependant on volunteer motivation and energy – consider bribing with tea & chocolate
50% of plots to be seeded with native wild flower mix

6. Initial Observations… in pictures

7. 2019 and beyond…

8. www.invasivespecies.scot sisi@nature.scot James Symonds
Image credits; NNSS,, Ryzhkov Sergey CC BY-SA 4.0,