EU banned plants

First there was banned chemicals/natural substances, then banned seeds, and now banned plants

http://www.express.co.uk/news/natur...spectors-dig-up-our-gardens-for-plant-threats

 

Potentially cause for concern, but unfortunately the Express is so terrible for its anti-anything-at-all-that-isn't-middle-class-British bias, combined with its propensity to portray everything in the most alarming way possible, I think I'd be more worried if it came from a source other than the Express.

I might have a google about, and see what other media sources are saying.

 

How on earth are they going to 'police' this and who's going to pay for it! There are already plants here that haven't been controlled/eliminated ie. Japanese Knotweed and Ragwort. It's another ridiculous idea from the EU!

 

I found this:

http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/no-eu-ban-on-gardeners-favourites/

 

Why do we have to listen to some idiot in Brussels telling gardeners what to grow.
And nobody will be digging out any of my plants out of my garden.
They would be better try to get rid of Japanese Knotweed first, but that would cost to much money.
Rant over

 

I found this. http://www.hortweek.com/Ornamentals...wide-ban-species-listed-invasive-one-country/

 

Thats about propagation of non EU approved plants (it's been posted on GC), not possession of non native species

http://www.rhs.org.uk/News/eu-non-natives-legislation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardenin...rons-could-be-criminalised-by-new-EU-law.html

 

I wonder how they would get it done here in Wales, the hills around here are covered with vast plantations of Rhododendron , it`s a beautiful sight when they are in bloom.

 

The implication in the article I found is that nobody will get done for possession, because it is only the large scale producers that will have to register what they are selling, which I believe they currently do anyway. So its stuff right at the start of the supply chain from what I gather.

 

I think they have left things a couple of thousand years too late, regarding invasive species.
Most things able to survive here, are here now, and have been for some time.

 

It's water plants now: http://www.rhs.org.uk/News/water-plants-ban

 

Hmm, they could probably have my Virginia creeper and cotoneasters and welcome to them.

The DE sure knows which buttons to press to get Middle England's knickers twisting! Mind you, they've done immigration and extreme weather to death, good idea to have a bit of seasonal variety, before threatening the garden-loving British public with 3 months drought/downpour.

 

It now seems the official line from when I defended this has changed. Now they're talking about having an unlimited blacklist, and it will be an offence to possess anything on the list. So now my stance has gone from 'no big deal, nothing to worry about' to 'outrageously alarming'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27039714

I disagree with this statement though...

Whether or not sheep cause problems depends entirely on your point of view. My point of view is that they make a massive contribution to biodiversity loss. There is a vast area of moorland near me (the North Yorks Moors) where sheep are allowed to wander free and graze what they like. We know from an experiment conducted back in the 1980s that there is a diverse seed bank in the soil up there (they fenced off sections and waited to see what grew, lots of things did), but the sheep just eat everything as it emerges. So between the sheep and the servants of the toffs (who routinely set the moors alight every year to eliminate hiding places for the pheasants and grouse rejuvenate the heather, and the sheep eating everything, that vast area of 'natural' moorland is now pretty much a monoculture of one species of heather.