I swear never ONCE has that saw not started first time on choke. Worst of all that was the very first take and it was too dark to do a second! But yeah one day I'll re-record, hopefully with all of them gone!
@@busterbeagle2167 just a general term for things that cause a blight - things that are annoying, ruin or spoil something. Blight is actually a plant disease but that's not the usage I had here.
Having just discovered Calums channel ( via a serendipitous click on a link about Russian snow behemoths) I have to agree. Having spent time ripping out Rhoddys (I was paid for it !) I can attest to the wasteland that lives below, the only thing that lives there are rats.
Good video Calum, explains the problem very well. I've been involved in rhodo ponticum clearance for around 20 years now both professionally and as a volunteer, using stem treatment, stump treatment and small scale foliar spray of regrowth. Clearance is achievable with determination and a methodical approach, I think the secret is that no rhodo is allowed to flower behind you - ie whatever you clear, keep clear and keep pushing the seed source further back. I much prefer to go into a site that has never been treated than one which has been done badly. Hope it's going well for you anyway!
Thanks for the kind words and the insight! Can’t wait to show off the progress we’ve made in the future- we’ve found a chainsaw to cut and using a digger and grabber arm to move and pile up the branches to be incredibly efficient- though like you say the real test comes thing summer to see if I can keep them from popping back up!
The last estate I worked at had acres of the stuff. The owner had eventually bitten the bullet and payed £20,000 to get a massive chunk of them removed by the commission about a decade ago, but in his lack of foresight never created any kind of management plan afterwards and they have returned. I led a few volunteer work parties getting rid of it and we cleared a massive block of it, but I quit before I had the chance to watch the bonfire!
Excellent video, thanks for making! I had the same experience as a kid with them, my brother and I used to hang about inside them all day in the rain. As an adult I had an incident in my early 20s which resulted in me being alone in Dublin at night with nowhere to stay. Remembering my time as a kid, I walked to Pheonix park and sheltered in a Rhodedendron all night in the rain. It was surprisingly comfortable.
Fascinating Calum. We have very tame Rhododendrons here in NW USA. But it seems every area has some never-ending battle with an invasive species. Ours is Himalayan Blackberrys and English Ivy.
It's annoying because I LOVE walking through big rhoddy passageways and dens but it's so hard to enjoy after knowing what they're doing. I think I'll have to live with the fact I'll never be rid of them, but carefully managed they can be beautiful.
I live in the Northeast USA and have a couple of Rhododendrons in my front yard. They're very well behaved and haven't attempted to take over yet. They don't look exactly like the kind you have. The ones you have look stringier. The branches are thinner and there are more of them. The branches on my Rhododendrons are thicker. I don't know what keeps them from taking over here in the States but we don't have the problem of Rhodies running wild.
That's the thing there are simply so many species- not to paint them all with the same brush but Scotland's wild rhododendron ponticum is thought to be a creation of Victorian plantsmen. It is a mix of Spanish and North American species, developed to withstand Scotland's harsh climate. They look quite thin in this video but some of the thickest branches I've seen are 30cm in diamenter. Crazy stuff.
Here in upstate NY, it takes some effort to keep azaleas alive. Looking at that Rhodo-thicket, I'm feeling pretty lucky to 'only' be struggling with autumn olives..
@@danltiger, Oh Lord, those dang Autumn Olives...you got 1 you got 100 in a few years. And to think the Dept of Game encouraged their planting in the 70s here in Va. "Good for the birds....great for your Fence Rows" they said.
I live in the Eastern USA too. Maryland. Here the Rhododendron maximum is native and can grow to 20 feet tall or more, but it freaked me out when I first saw one in the wild as I had memories of the Rhododendrons in Dorset England when I was growing up. These were everywhere and they made great camps, as nothing lived under then. Completely bare. Made it an excellent place to play. When I was older and knew a bit more I realized how invasive they were. So seeing one here at first got the blood pumping :) If I remember correctly the land that is cleared after they are removed has to be reseeded as the seed bank has been totally destroyed by the Rhody poison. Beautiful looking flower for a few weeks each year.
Can't believe i missed this little Gem when it was uploaded .... and props to your camera-person , walking backwards over uneven ground while keeping the subject framed isn't easy
I live in North Carolina,USA. I recently found out about this while watching an episode of Inspector Lewis. I couldn't believe it because rhododendrons and azaleas are planted in just about everyone's yard here in the south! I looked it up, still can't believe it!!! Thanks for your informational video☺️
Calum, your videos are fantastic. I'm always surprised and impressed in equal measure by what you're up to! With love from a southerly neighbour down in England.
Reminds me a lot of how Himalayan blackberry bushes have taken over the northwestern US. Nothing wants to eat em, covers the ground in darkness. There are a lot of rhodedendren bushes here too, but I've never seen them grow much further from where they're planted.
Great video. Such a crime that you can still buy R. Ponticum from garden centres and readily available online. When I tell people that these things are invasive in the wild, most are unaware. Especially compared to other renowned species like Japanese knotweed or Himalayan Balsam.
There were absolutely tonnes of them in the New Forest when I last went there. People plant them in gardens, and yes they look lovely, but are also incredibly invasive and spread like wildfire.
Most of the cultivars cultivated in gardens nowadays are not invasive, unless they are grafted onto Rhododendron ponticum or contain a lot of ponticum genes.
Our local scout campsite is absolutely infested with these things, its a constant battle to get rid of them - even with the basically unlimited chain and hand saws in the equipment stores
Hello Calum, Good video and you're right of course, The Rhoddy only took second place to the Duke of Cumberland as being the scourge of the Highlands. I was always led to believe it was a native of Northern India/Himalayas though?
I just bought some property in Illinois. It's all old growth hard wood, but I have a problem with invasive vines. I've been waging a 1 man war on the things. They choke out the trees, and drag them down. I've probably killed over a hundred of them in the year I've lived here.
And the top video on Up Next is "How to propagate Rhododendrons". Sounds like they don't need any help. One of the invasive shrubs we have here in the US is European buckthorn. I got some in my back yard and I've been cutting them and making stuff out of the wood. Last year I made a bucksaw out of buckthorn, so I can use it to cut them down, then I spray the stumps with glyphosate to kill the roots.
Only just discovered this channel. I'm a great fan of your 'main' channel and had no idea this one existed - you should publicise this on your other channels, it deserves far more views than it gets. Or better still, combine the two - the videos are perfectly complimentary, they really don't need separating. Also, these shorter, quicker to make videos would be nice to fill the gaps while we wait for your larger scale productions.
Here in Caithness the non native rogues are Sitka spruce and lodge pole pine. They were introduced by forestry interests as a crop but are rapidly spreading onto the blanket bog. They dry out the living bog enough to kill it. The bog is a carbon sink of global importance.
You find them here in the Netherlands as well where it was also trendy to plant them on posh properties. Wim Sonneveld, a well known comedian and singer, even made a sketch about the gifts from people coming to the Queen''s birthday being thrown behind the palace's Rhodondendron bushes to get rid of them a.s.a.p. (He himself impersonating the arrogant palace official who ordered it). It's old stuff now but it proves that the Rhodondendron even became a bit of a cultural icon here at the time! I recognize everything you say about them anyway. That they are so invasive fits very well to that preference. Rich / Posh people also tend to think that their exclusivity is the only thing that really counts and should actually be sold as being to the advantage of all. Apres nous la deluge! It's the most ultra-capitalist plant in existence! No wonder humans like them. They are very green, carry beautifull flowers but will in the end destroy us all! But wait a minute! You actuall own a such a place. You'll probably compare tthem to communist egalitarians in stead! :-)
What a great interesting and informative video that treats the viewer with respect and doesn't assume they are thick. Just discovered your channel, really enjoying it. Good on you mate, cheers.
Victorians used to grow psychedelic mushrooms under them because the plant is in the ericaceae family and create an acidic environment for the mushrooms to grow and also obvs it’s mulch for the plant and it’s creating a natural environment around itself for its next progeny to grow in. I think they were bought over from somewhere in India during the Victorian period. And tbh since the earth axis is shifting and the temps will be increasing isn’t it wisest for us to consider cultivating for temperate loving and sub tropical plants whilst also maintaining are other ones and allowing them to adapt to the hotter days and humid days. I think it’s time to start establishing permaculture food forests.
In Pennsylvania we have some massive Rhododendrons. Not an invasive issue as in Scotland. Unfortunately we do have the invasive"Multiflora Rose" . Noxious and invasive in my state, it was (as usual) a legitimate crop before being declared illegal to sell. One major additional downside to the rose, compared to the rhododendron, is the injury the thorns cause animals and human.
ya that multiflora rose is a real pain. I read that it is often grafted to other rose types because of its aggressive growth.Those thorns are no joke though. Its an impressively terrible plant here in the north east US.
As an American, this is very strange to watch. We have a beautiful rhododendron garden in my hometown of Eugene, OR, but they aren't a problem. I never thought rhododendrons (or a particular strain of them, at least) could be so invasive.
Unfortunately man has tried to play god worldwide by introducing not just invasive plants but also animals with devastating affects on world's ecosystems.
Oh yeah I know exactly the sorta thickets those grow. Despite Rhododendron Maximum being native here it's also considered invasive in some cases due to how aggressively it grows in acidic cove forests. The only thing that keeps it in check is regular burns which prevent it from forming into what is locally known as Rhododendron Hell. It ain't surprising that plant is causing so many issues when it acts the same in some of its native range.
Very interesting! I’m from the Appalachian mountains in the US where Rhodies are endemic and rhodie thickets span for miles. We love them here =] our Catawba rhododendron occupies many mountain top heath balds which makes for an incredible display every summer. It’s very interesting to see y’all battle rhododendron. One mans treasure is another’s nightmare
To be fair I love rhododendron, I just recognise that if I don't do something now, it could ruin our whole area. If I could have kept this awesome rhododendron jungle I would!
The "Rhodies" that we have here in Southeastern US Grow, but IMHO would not say they go "Hog Wild" like in the UK and I would not call them "invasive", even though they are not native..........I have seen a LOT MORE Privet growing "Out of Control" in the Wild here and it is also not Native to North America......... It
@@MrCuckoobox Rhododendrons, which include Azaleas, are native to the Southeastern US. They're in all the regions of the South, as far as I am aware. You are right about Chinese privet, though. Those are everywhere here in Appalachia. Those (Ligustrum sinense), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) autumn olive (eleagnus umbellata) and multiflora rose occupy much of my time, not to mention rage. We have kudzu down the road and if it comes over here I guess I'll be pulling that stuff, too.
@@yankeegonesouth4973 To "Clarify" I am referring to "Non-native" Rhododendrons Species that end up growing in the wild - from plants that originally planted as Orientals in some one's yard or garden then had the seeds spread to woods across the street such as Privet has done in our area. A lot of what you see growing in yards cross bred or non-native. I have not seen any Rhododendrons growing wild in Piedmont where we live. Yes, I know there are native species. Privet on the other hand is totally Non-Native. I have growing in the ditch/stream in the back, it is totally out of control and continues to spread not only in the area is growing but by seeds carried by birds/animals/water to a new area further down stream and grown there too.
@@MrCuckoobox I apologize. I did not realize that non-native rhodies were spreading that much in the piedmont. Thank you for the education! As for Chinese privet, it's so bad here that I'm thinking of hacking it down, putting up fences and getting some goats in here to munch the shoots. Plant behaves like it owns the place.
HeWow, never heard of this before being a problem. Here in The Great Industrial Northeast across the pond, rhododendrons are slow growing, not invasive and the flower buds are like caviar to the deer.
I'm very proud of you mate for undertaking such a big task that your children will benefit from. I find you of great character sir and I am very impressed!
We have native Rhodedendron here in Pennsylvania, USA but it’s actually in decline in the woods due to our overpopulated native deer. Not to worry, however, because we are plagued with English ivy, autumn olive, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry and the Chinese Ailanthus tree. On my 14 acres I also have Euvodia trees which have escaped from a nearby private collection of rare plantings in a wealthy persons garden. I use a lot of Roundup but it’s hard to keep up. At least you don’t have the Japanese stink bug or the Chinese lantern fly.
There was a stretch of forest road near my home in Dorset colloquially called Rhododendron mile, people were upset when one day they were all removed. Now I see why.
LOL, I live in the Pacific Northwest where they’re native and widely distributed through coastal forests and mountains. I suspect we would gladly take back all the rhodys invading Scotland if you would take back all the Scotch broom here.
Ha that is cool to realise you are from Raasay! I am from Bermuda, I'd watched your interesting videos of the Antarctic snow exploration vehicles, then stumbled on this one! My mother is from Skye and I visit Skye every year, often thinking I ought to visit Raasay! Enjoy the videos, look forward to viewing more!
@@CalumRaasay From Glenhinnisdal, about 5 minutes from Uig. I did my first year of primary school many years ago in Skye. I have a feeling this year won't be visiting with the state of the world. For sure will look you up on Raasay for the distillery tour, I did Talisker tour I guess 6 years ago?
What are you planting in place to replace the rhododendron? That’s the biggest problem with the invasive species conundrum; people rip out the plants that are invasive but don’t plant anything in place of them and then cause erosion and all sorts of other problems. You need to look at the condition which plants like to grow in and change that. Maybe it’s a response to poor, compacted soil (or the opposite) maybe they’re harvesting a nutrient or mineral that’s locked up in the soil chemistry. Water Hyacinth is demonized as an aquatic weed, but it harvests loads of nutrients out of eutrophic water, and can even remove heavy metals from the water. Again, I’m not saying it is wrong what you’re doing, but your approach of injecting toxins and burning and such may be just as harmful as the shrub itself.
Yeah, I was reading "Rhododendron: An ecological disaster in Killarney National Park" from the Irish Times while making this- DAFM have some good guides on management and control. Certainly useful for me as I work through all this!
@@CalumRaasay I wish they did. Almost all forestry in Ireland is commercial: we have so much stikka spruce and depressingly little of anything else. I'm lucky where I live to have mature oak and beech woodland very nearby, but the mountains and the west could be so much better.
@@CalumRaasay Found this video guide. Quite likely you've already seen it, but just in case you find it useful: ua-cam.com/video/7xzSl7mEDyw/v-deo.html.
@@CalumRaasay I can see why! It's not every day that you find a youtube video that's this illustrative and informative, with fantastic audio that's shot in one take! I went down a rabbit hole of invasive plants in my home country after seeing this video. Excellent work.
You should do a doc on Japanese Knotweed. It’s not only a destructive invasive species in the UK, but also in the US. It’s a nightmare to eradicate and will absolutely destroy pavement/home foundations.
a skid steer with a mulcher might work on that stuff. It's basically a big spinning drum with teeth on it. They will grind pretty big stumps, I imagine they could chew through this stuff.
I found your video enthralling and informative. It was a great idea to walk and talk. It really kept my attention. I'm off to kill the rhodedendron in my garden now. I wasn't sure about it but having watched this and researched the topic well, I'm now convinced. Good luck with your life's work. May I suggest a small JCB?
Another plant in the same family of ericaceae, the mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia), is the state flower here in Connecticut. And just like the rhododendron, it is a great looking plant and just like the rhododendron it is poisonous, but unlike the rhododendron, you might actually get fined if you were to so much as prune one of them on public land (some people say that it is even illegal to pick its flowers on public and private land, but that is likely a stretch for what you cannot do to them on public land which actually talks about "collecting" them, and does not afaik apply to private land).
We've got a lot of the things here in the Netherlands. They're not native here either, but I'm not sure we have the same hardy hybrid kind. People often use them as evergreen hedges in larger gardens, some city parks are full of them. And I come across them in woodlands that used to be part of estates. In my work in landscape management I've had to remove them, so I recognise what you mean when you say they are hard to kill.
I mean they are lovely to look at and, when controlled, they can be fine but of course the whole 'when controlled' bit is the unknown- it's all well and good until an estate is abandoned or a garden is neglected and suddenly they're sprouting everywhere!
I discovered your channel through the Kharkovchanka video. Loved that one, and went to take a look at the rest of your channel to discover you do videos about about (restoring) old tools and battling rhodondendrons, amongst others. Amazing. I love the way you tell stories, keep it up!
Meanwhile in Michigan. I moved three from back yard to front yard and they continue to struggle. They may be planted too deep. Just plant them all in my front yard. They’ll die.
I’m having this problem with Laurel which has become huge and ever green, blocking out light in a 4 acre woods. About 1 acre now is just huge Laurel, dead underneath and about 50 feet tall. I’m working on cutting it all down.
That’s a good suggestion I’d think it would. I think the problem is you’d just need so much (in my situation) that cutting /burning/weed killer is the way to go
Huge problem here in Ireland.Its everywhere and spreading at an alarming rate.I can't see how people can talk about rewilding areas until we find a solution.
Wow, best solution might be to use a chipper and cover up the ground with the woodchips to choke out any new growths, but it might require a crushing chipper to load in roots and all with a digger..
We have a chipper but most of the beaches are just that bit too thick or awkward. It’s really just the sheer volume that’s the problem, it takes ages! (as much as I love chipping!)
I've heard that Rhododendron ponticum can regenerate from even a small piece of the wood, so chipping and spreading it over the area you've cleared it from may well just result in fresh new shoots coming up all over the place. So it wouldn't be something I'd recommend, I think burning the cuttings and pulling out the stumps is the best thing to do rather than risk leaving any live wood around.
That raises the question why does that plant need to be so resilient, ie what in it's natural environment selects for those traits that make it such a great invasive species.
We have the same problem here in Greece with the species Ailanthus Altissima. We call it "stinking walnut tree" and the damn thing is everywhere. It was introduced in the days of king Otto in the first half of the 19th century at the Royal Garden (now National Garden) of Athens. Back in the day if it was Chinese, it was beautiful. Yet, that toxic species can produce up to 260000 sperms per tree a year. Now it thrives in urban and industrial sites all over the country and it has started to spread in rural areas too. The real problem is that it's growing through cracks in the walls and in a country that's literally one vast archeological site this can be devastating for the ancient ruins. Unfortunately the term "invasive species" for the majority of the Greeks is something like ancient Akkadian or Sumerian and each tine the state try to get rid of the stinking walnut tree there's protest.
Many invasive plants in mainland eu aswell! Another annoying one and damaging one are a certain specie of “easy spreading” Lupin, even in Iceland they have issues, and finally Finland made the seed illegal to plant thankfully, I hope Sweden does the same as they are now on EVERY roadside..
You badly need to move to Kent (not something I ever expected to write!). We cant grow them here because the soil is so alkaline. I'm lucky to have pretty neutral soil in my garden, so I can just about keep them alive, but it's a struggle. There's no danger of any of my bushes escaping and spreading! Interesting to hear your pronunciation of rhododendron too. Down here we say 'road-oh-dendrum', not 'roddy-dendrum', the way you say it. I've never heard anyone call them "roddies"! But then they're not something people talk much about at all here in Darkest Kent - just a garden bush.
I have a 300 pound satsuki azalea. It is classified in the genus rhododendron. Should I go and rip it out of it's pot and burn it, following your advice: "Destroy all rhododendrons in Scotland"?
I’m from the Pacific Northwest Washington stat. I’ll send all the European Starlings back and you can send me back our rhododendrons 😂 but that type looks quite a bit more aggressive than our native type
Where as here in south Florida they almost impossible to grow and there are dozens if not hundreds of other species of plants that are invasive that people here have to deal with instead!!!
How deep do the roots go? We don't have that plant where I live but we have similar nasty invasive species that basically does the same thing. They start poisoning everything around them and only their species survive and everything that isn't dies around them. Usually their roots go very deep and it's such a pain to get rid of them.
Thanks so much for this interesting video! have just bought Rhododendron Cunningham. Does this mean that I should keep it in the pot- I am really worried now because I don’t want it to destroy my incredible hydrangeas
Consider renting a device called a Forestry Mower or Forestry Mulcher. It would make quick work of that brush. A bulldozer or backhoe are other more aggressive options. Be careful around existing trees that you want to save. Avoid any damage to tree roots. Aerial application of herbicides followed by prescribed/controlled burns is used to remove invasives on large scales. Unfortunately, here is the U.S. we have devised all sorts of ways to kill plants quickly. We also have release countless invasive species that are destroying our natural species and ecosystems. Humans tend to repeat these historic mistakes, usually for the sake of making money.
Ive just purched half an acre of woodland to build a house within. The middle has been taken over by large rhododendron, 4m high, 30m wide. Ive just started cutting through it all, is there anything i should do with the stumps prior to a digger coming in september to prevent regrowth?
If the digger is coming in get them to pull out the root in its entirety, flip it over and burn it. Make sure nothing is left in the ground- you'll get lots of little bits regrowing that you missed, so keep a close eye and pull them out when you see them. If it's a while before the digger arrives or you want to kill it now, order some roundup stump killer (or something that has glyphosate). Use a drill or a chainsaw to make incisions in the base of the rhododendron, preferably low down and below the branches. You'll need multiple holes or cuts depending how thick the branches are. Once you've made the incision, spray the exposed cuts with roundup (obviously this is a weedkiller so use protection and ensure no animals get near it - though the drill/cut methods means the weedkiller should remain in the rhododendron and not on the ground). Eventually, the glyphosate will travel through the sap to the branches and kill the plant. Though as always there's always going to be small resurgences here and there. A digger ripping out the roots and then burning the lot is probably the best method for larger systems.
How are you doing 3 years on? 'Workaways' might be an idea, they're engaged in all sorts of projects for board and lodge, occasionally also pocket money.
A rarely discussed topic of invasive species in Europe; similar situations here up Northern Europe. Great video.
TheTIK999 thank you! Always fun finding some more niche subjects
Aniquin send me over with a chainsaw. Payment can be free access to the Vasa museum.
Interesting. We don’t have this problem in Germany.🤔
@@holyfox94 Neither in Denmark as far as I know, but it sounded like these were special cross bred variants to live in harsher conditions.
@@Krikstar123 You have raccoon dogs instead! None of those in Scotland yet, as far as I know.
My compliments to your cameraperson. Walking backwards for 5 minutes while keeping you in frame and not a single stumble.
Nailed a walking, talking piece for 5 minutes only to be foiled by technology 😫😆. Great to see you getting rid of the blighters 🤘
I swear never ONCE has that saw not started first time on choke. Worst of all that was the very first take and it was too dark to do a second! But yeah one day I'll re-record, hopefully with all of them gone!
Pardon my isolation. Lol. What are blighters
@@busterbeagle2167 just a general term for things that cause a blight - things that are annoying, ruin or spoil something. Blight is actually a plant disease but that's not the usage I had here.
Your channel is criminally under-watched, this is really great content!
I appreciate that! But with lovely viewers and comments like yours, who needs more!
Having just discovered Calums channel ( via a serendipitous click on a link about Russian snow behemoths) I have to agree. Having spent time ripping out Rhoddys (I was paid for it !) I can attest to the wasteland that lives below, the only thing that lives there are rats.
Quality over quantity!
Good video Calum, explains the problem very well. I've been involved in rhodo ponticum clearance for around 20 years now both professionally and as a volunteer, using stem treatment, stump treatment and small scale foliar spray of regrowth. Clearance is achievable with determination and a methodical approach, I think the secret is that no rhodo is allowed to flower behind you - ie whatever you clear, keep clear and keep pushing the seed source further back. I much prefer to go into a site that has never been treated than one which has been done badly. Hope it's going well for you anyway!
Thanks for the kind words and the insight! Can’t wait to show off the progress we’ve made in the future- we’ve found a chainsaw to cut and using a digger and grabber arm to move and pile up the branches to be incredibly efficient- though like you say the real test comes thing summer to see if I can keep them from popping back up!
The last estate I worked at had acres of the stuff. The owner had eventually bitten the bullet and payed £20,000 to get a massive chunk of them removed by the commission about a decade ago, but in his lack of foresight never created any kind of management plan afterwards and they have returned. I led a few volunteer work parties getting rid of it and we cleared a massive block of it, but I quit before I had the chance to watch the bonfire!
Excellent video, thanks for making! I had the same experience as a kid with them, my brother and I used to hang about inside them all day in the rain. As an adult I had an incident in my early 20s which resulted in me being alone in Dublin at night with nowhere to stay. Remembering my time as a kid, I walked to Pheonix park and sheltered in a Rhodedendron all night in the rain. It was surprisingly comfortable.
Fascinating Calum. We have very tame Rhododendrons here in NW USA. But it seems every area has some never-ending battle with an invasive species. Ours is Himalayan Blackberrys and English Ivy.
This gave me a lot of nostalgia for summers spent Rhody Bashing in Ayrshire.
Days and days of cutting and burning with the odd bbq in between
It's annoying because I LOVE walking through big rhoddy passageways and dens but it's so hard to enjoy after knowing what they're doing. I think I'll have to live with the fact I'll never be rid of them, but carefully managed they can be beautiful.
I live in the Northeast USA and have a couple of Rhododendrons in my front yard. They're very well behaved and haven't attempted to take over yet. They don't look exactly like the kind you have. The ones you have look stringier. The branches are thinner and there are more of them. The branches on my Rhododendrons are thicker. I don't know what keeps them from taking over here in the States but we don't have the problem of Rhodies running wild.
That's the thing there are simply so many species- not to paint them all with the same brush but Scotland's wild rhododendron ponticum is thought to be a creation of Victorian plantsmen. It is a mix of Spanish and North American species, developed to withstand Scotland's harsh climate. They look quite thin in this video but some of the thickest branches I've seen are 30cm in diamenter. Crazy stuff.
Here in upstate NY, it takes some effort to keep azaleas alive. Looking at that Rhodo-thicket, I'm feeling pretty lucky to 'only' be struggling with autumn olives..
@@danltiger, Oh Lord, those dang Autumn Olives...you got 1 you got 100 in a few years. And to think the Dept of Game encouraged their planting in the 70s here in Va. "Good for the birds....great for your Fence Rows" they said.
We have the same problem in Ireland. These bastards are everywhere.
I live in the Eastern USA too. Maryland. Here the Rhododendron maximum is native and can grow to 20 feet tall or more, but it freaked me out when I first saw one in the wild as I had memories of the Rhododendrons in Dorset England when I was growing up. These were everywhere and they made great camps, as nothing lived under then. Completely bare. Made it an excellent place to play. When I was older and knew a bit more I realized how invasive they were. So seeing one here at first got the blood pumping :) If I remember correctly the land that is cleared after they are removed has to be reseeded as the seed bank has been totally destroyed by the Rhody poison. Beautiful looking flower for a few weeks each year.
The quality of your videos is great. You really should have more views.
Who needs views when I have lovely comments and viewers like you?
Can't believe i missed this little Gem when it was uploaded .... and props to your camera-person , walking backwards over uneven ground while keeping the subject framed isn't easy
I live in North Carolina,USA. I recently found out about this while watching an episode of Inspector Lewis. I couldn't believe it because rhododendrons and azaleas are planted in just about everyone's yard here in the south! I looked it up, still can't believe it!!! Thanks for your informational video☺️
They are native to North Ameria, but unfortunately most of the ones that you see in gardens are Chinees varieties.
I lived in southern France and down there rhododendrons are the nice flower bush in grandma's garden. Crazy to think they can be "badass" plants
BvousBrainSystems yeah when most people think Rhododendron they think of nice little bushes in an old ladies garden. Not here however!
@@CalumRaasay what's even stranger is that they are so hard to keep alive… at least when small :D
Calum, your videos are fantastic. I'm always surprised and impressed in equal measure by what you're up to!
With love from a southerly neighbour down in England.
Thank you! Glad people enjoy my somewhat unpredictable videos and hobbies. Stay safe down there!
@@CalumRaasay no worries man, huge fan of your artwork too - thanks, and likewise!
Reminds me a lot of how Himalayan blackberry bushes have taken over the northwestern US. Nothing wants to eat em, covers the ground in darkness. There are a lot of rhodedendren bushes here too, but I've never seen them grow much further from where they're planted.
Great video. Such a crime that you can still buy R. Ponticum from garden centres and readily available online.
When I tell people that these things are invasive in the wild, most are unaware. Especially compared to other renowned species like Japanese knotweed or Himalayan Balsam.
There were absolutely tonnes of them in the New Forest when I last went there. People plant them in gardens, and yes they look lovely, but are also incredibly invasive and spread like wildfire.
Most of the cultivars cultivated in gardens nowadays are not invasive, unless they are grafted onto Rhododendron ponticum or contain a lot of ponticum genes.
Our local scout campsite is absolutely infested with these things, its a constant battle to get rid of them - even with the basically unlimited chain and hand saws in the equipment stores
Hello Calum, Good video and you're right of course, The Rhoddy only took second place to the Duke of Cumberland as being the scourge of the Highlands. I was always led to believe it was a native of Northern India/Himalayas though?
I just bought some property in Illinois. It's all old growth hard wood, but I have a problem with invasive vines. I've been waging a 1 man war on the things. They choke out the trees, and drag them down. I've probably killed over a hundred of them in the year I've lived here.
And the top video on Up Next is "How to propagate Rhododendrons". Sounds like they don't need any help. One of the invasive shrubs we have here in the US is European buckthorn. I got some in my back yard and I've been cutting them and making stuff out of the wood. Last year I made a bucksaw out of buckthorn, so I can use it to cut them down, then I spray the stumps with glyphosate to kill the roots.
Great presentation, was in Connemara last summer and was shocked to see baby bushes spring ing up. Your video is very very needed. Thank you.
Too many memories of days spent grubbing out rhodie roots on Scottish hillsides using only mattock, pry-bar and winch. At least they burn well …
Haha yeah one of the annoyances at the moment is constantly stumbling across all the old dens and forts we made in these things as kids!
Hiding out of the rain.... drinking the good old Buckfast 🤣
I wasn't expecting the Games workshop reference 👍
Ahhh childhood 😂
Only just discovered this channel. I'm a great fan of your 'main' channel and had no idea this one existed - you should publicise this on your other channels, it deserves far more views than it gets. Or better still, combine the two - the videos are perfectly complimentary, they really don't need separating. Also, these shorter, quicker to make videos would be nice to fill the gaps while we wait for your larger scale productions.
What is the main channel?!
Very interesting as always !
Thank you!
Here in Caithness the non native rogues are Sitka spruce and lodge pole pine. They were introduced by forestry interests as a crop but are rapidly spreading onto the blanket bog. They dry out the living bog enough to kill it. The bog is a carbon sink of global importance.
You find them here in the Netherlands as well where it was also trendy to plant them on posh properties. Wim Sonneveld, a well known comedian and singer, even made a sketch about the gifts from people coming to the Queen''s birthday being thrown behind the palace's Rhodondendron bushes to get rid of them a.s.a.p. (He himself impersonating the arrogant palace official who ordered it). It's old stuff now but it proves that the Rhodondendron even became a bit of a cultural icon here at the time! I recognize everything you say about them anyway. That they are so invasive fits very well to that preference. Rich / Posh people also tend to think that their exclusivity is the only thing that really counts and should actually be sold as being to the advantage of all. Apres nous la deluge! It's the most ultra-capitalist plant in existence! No wonder humans like them. They are very green, carry beautifull flowers but will in the end destroy us all! But wait a minute! You actuall own a such a place. You'll probably compare tthem to communist egalitarians in stead! :-)
What a great interesting and informative video that treats the viewer with respect and doesn't assume they are thick. Just discovered your channel, really enjoying it. Good on you mate, cheers.
Thanks Rich! Really appreciate that.
Victorians used to grow psychedelic mushrooms under them because the plant is in the ericaceae family and create an acidic environment for the mushrooms to grow and also obvs it’s mulch for the plant and it’s creating a natural environment around itself for its next progeny to grow in. I think they were bought over from somewhere in India during the Victorian period. And tbh since the earth axis is shifting and the temps will be increasing isn’t it wisest for us to consider cultivating for temperate loving and sub tropical plants whilst also maintaining are other ones and allowing them to adapt to the hotter days and humid days. I think it’s time to start establishing permaculture food forests.
In Pennsylvania we have some massive Rhododendrons. Not an invasive issue as in Scotland. Unfortunately we do have the invasive"Multiflora Rose" . Noxious and invasive in my state, it was (as usual) a legitimate crop before being declared illegal to sell. One major additional downside to the rose, compared to the rhododendron, is the injury
the thorns cause animals and human.
ya that multiflora rose is a real pain. I read that it is often grafted to other rose types because of its aggressive growth.Those thorns are no joke though. Its an impressively terrible plant here in the north east US.
Maryland here. Yeah, multiflora rose, those thorns. Swear I'm Rhododendron permanently scared.
As an American, this is very strange to watch. We have a beautiful rhododendron garden in my hometown of Eugene, OR, but they aren't a problem. I never thought rhododendrons (or a particular strain of them, at least) could be so invasive.
Unfortunately man has tried to play god worldwide by introducing not just invasive plants but also animals with devastating affects on world's ecosystems.
Here on Sakhalin (Russia) we have a similar situation with bamboo. In kills everything & grows momentally.
similar here in Ireland, especially the Killarney national park.
EXCELLENT VIDEO.
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Oh yeah I know exactly the sorta thickets those grow. Despite Rhododendron Maximum being native here it's also considered invasive in some cases due to how aggressively it grows in acidic cove forests. The only thing that keeps it in check is regular burns which prevent it from forming into what is locally known as Rhododendron Hell. It ain't surprising that plant is causing so many issues when it acts the same in some of its native range.
In the Blue Ridge mountains of the US, where they are native and beloved, a thicket of rhododendron is properly called a "hell".
Very interesting! I’m from the Appalachian mountains in the US where Rhodies are endemic and rhodie thickets span for miles. We love them here =] our Catawba rhododendron occupies many mountain top heath balds which makes for an incredible display every summer. It’s very interesting to see y’all battle rhododendron. One mans treasure is another’s nightmare
To be fair I love rhododendron, I just recognise that if I don't do something now, it could ruin our whole area. If I could have kept this awesome rhododendron jungle I would!
The "Rhodies" that we have here in Southeastern US Grow, but IMHO would not say they go "Hog Wild" like in the UK and I would not call them "invasive", even though they are not native..........I have seen a LOT MORE Privet growing "Out of Control" in the Wild here and it is also not Native to North America......... It
@@MrCuckoobox Rhododendrons, which include Azaleas, are native to the Southeastern US. They're in all the regions of the South, as far as I am aware. You are right about Chinese privet, though. Those are everywhere here in Appalachia. Those (Ligustrum sinense), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) autumn olive (eleagnus umbellata) and multiflora rose occupy much of my time, not to mention rage. We have kudzu down the road and if it comes over here I guess I'll be pulling that stuff, too.
@@yankeegonesouth4973 To "Clarify" I am referring to "Non-native" Rhododendrons Species that end up growing in the wild - from plants that originally planted as Orientals in some one's yard or garden then had the seeds spread to woods across the street such as Privet has done in our area. A lot of what you see growing in yards cross bred or non-native. I have not seen any Rhododendrons growing wild in Piedmont where we live. Yes, I know there are native species. Privet on the other hand is totally Non-Native. I have growing in the ditch/stream in the back, it is totally out of control and continues to spread not only in the area is growing but by seeds carried by birds/animals/water to a new area further down stream and grown there too.
@@MrCuckoobox I apologize. I did not realize that non-native rhodies were spreading that much in the piedmont. Thank you for the education!
As for Chinese privet, it's so bad here that I'm thinking of hacking it down, putting up fences and getting some goats in here to munch the shoots. Plant behaves like it owns the place.
HeWow, never heard of this before being a problem. Here in The Great Industrial Northeast across the pond, rhododendrons are slow growing, not invasive and the flower buds are like caviar to the deer.
I'm very proud of you mate for undertaking such a big task that your children will benefit from. I find you of great character sir and I am very impressed!
Thank you! Hopefully nature will benefit too, I look forward to planting a lot more!
I can't get over that this really interesting and fact dense video was done in one take - great work man
No joke, this was my first take as well!
I had no idea!
Sounds like the kudzu here in the USA
I am moving to a property in Scotland within the next month, hope to become acquainted! Your channel is amazing!
We have native Rhodedendron here in Pennsylvania, USA but it’s actually in decline in the woods due to our overpopulated native deer. Not to worry, however, because we are plagued with English ivy, autumn olive, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry and the Chinese Ailanthus tree. On my 14 acres I also have Euvodia trees which have escaped from a nearby private collection of rare plantings in a wealthy persons garden.
I use a lot of Roundup but it’s hard to keep up. At least you don’t have the Japanese stink bug or the Chinese lantern fly.
There was a stretch of forest road near my home in Dorset colloquially called Rhododendron mile, people were upset when one day they were all removed. Now I see why.
When I was younger I was always sad when our Rhododendron patches and paths were removed, certainly don't feel that way now!
LOL, I live in the Pacific Northwest where they’re native and widely distributed through coastal forests and mountains. I suspect we would gladly take back all the rhodys invading Scotland if you would take back all the Scotch broom here.
We've just had great success clearing a woodland of mature rhode using a tree shear.
And I struggle to keep alive that one potted rhododendron on my window sill. I guess I can feel better about it now.
In a way, this seems like a natural progression from Minecraft
My life has literally just become minecraft. See my instagram where I went exploring abandoned mineshafts! instagram.com/p/B_-gFXbgmuy/
In a battle between Rhododendron and Japanese Knot Weed - would the Rhododendron win, and would it be the lesser of 2 evils?
Well unfortunately both have arrived on Raasay so no doubt I'll have an update for you soon 😒
@@CalumRaasay What's the update?
Whichever one makes it to the semifinals has to go up against kudzu.
Ha that is cool to realise you are from Raasay! I am from Bermuda, I'd watched your interesting videos of the Antarctic snow exploration vehicles, then stumbled on this one! My mother is from Skye and I visit Skye every year, often thinking I ought to visit Raasay! Enjoy the videos, look forward to viewing more!
fantastic! Whereabouts on Skye is she from? I work at the distillery on Raasay so let me know if you're coming over, I'll give you a tour!
@@CalumRaasay From Glenhinnisdal, about 5 minutes from Uig. I did my first year of primary school many years ago in Skye. I have a feeling this year won't be visiting with the state of the world. For sure will look you up on Raasay for the distillery tour, I did Talisker tour I guess 6 years ago?
@@CalumRaasay This was during one of my visits!
ua-cam.com/video/vjMN5ZlxtsQ/v-deo.html
What are you planting in place to replace the rhododendron? That’s the biggest problem with the invasive species conundrum; people rip out the plants that are invasive but don’t plant anything in place of them and then cause erosion and all sorts of other problems. You need to look at the condition which plants like to grow in and change that. Maybe it’s a response to poor, compacted soil (or the opposite) maybe they’re harvesting a nutrient or mineral that’s locked up in the soil chemistry. Water Hyacinth is demonized as an aquatic weed, but it harvests loads of nutrients out of eutrophic water, and can even remove heavy metals from the water. Again, I’m not saying it is wrong what you’re doing, but your approach of injecting toxins and burning and such may be just as harmful as the shrub itself.
The cane toad of plants. Sad. Great video.
Same in Ireland, especially in Kerry, for some reason.
Yeah, I was reading "Rhododendron: An ecological disaster in Killarney National Park" from the Irish Times while making this- DAFM have some good guides on management and control. Certainly useful for me as I work through all this!
@@CalumRaasay Cool that you found some useful guides from over here.
@@qwertyTRiG Yeah, the rangers and forestry folks over there know their stuff!
@@CalumRaasay I wish they did. Almost all forestry in Ireland is commercial: we have so much stikka spruce and depressingly little of anything else. I'm lucky where I live to have mature oak and beech woodland very nearby, but the mountains and the west could be so much better.
@@CalumRaasay Found this video guide. Quite likely you've already seen it, but just in case you find it useful: ua-cam.com/video/7xzSl7mEDyw/v-deo.html.
It took the National Trust nearly 40 years to get rid of them on Brownsea Island.
Thats quite a Rowdy Roddy.
The birds are still singing🐦
Yet garden centres are quite happy to sell them and tell customers they are good for gardens.
A great video. I have some old plants in my garden that I want to remove. Are the roots hard to dig out with a spade?
Lantana from Australia would like to say hello.
#Invasiveplantgang
Great message abt things ppl can actively do to help/protect the environment
Every time I expected the rhododendrons to end, you kept walking forward and there was just *more rhododendron.*
I still think this is one of my favourite videos!
@@CalumRaasay I can see why! It's not every day that you find a youtube video that's this illustrative and informative, with fantastic audio that's shot in one take! I went down a rabbit hole of invasive plants in my home country after seeing this video. Excellent work.
You should do a doc on Japanese Knotweed. It’s not only a destructive invasive species in the UK, but also in the US.
It’s a nightmare to eradicate and will absolutely destroy pavement/home foundations.
a skid steer with a mulcher might work on that stuff. It's basically a big spinning drum with teeth on it. They will grind pretty big stumps, I imagine they could chew through this stuff.
I found your video enthralling and informative. It was a great idea to walk and talk. It really kept my attention.
I'm off to kill the rhodedendron in my garden now. I wasn't sure about it but having watched this and researched the topic well, I'm now convinced. Good luck with your life's work. May I suggest a small JCB?
Another plant in the same family of ericaceae, the mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia), is the state flower here in Connecticut. And just like the rhododendron, it is a great looking plant and just like the rhododendron it is poisonous, but unlike the rhododendron, you might actually get fined if you were to so much as prune one of them on public land (some people say that it is even illegal to pick its flowers on public and private land, but that is likely a stretch for what you cannot do to them on public land which actually talks about "collecting" them, and does not afaik apply to private land).
We've got a lot of the things here in the Netherlands. They're not native here either, but I'm not sure we have the same hardy hybrid kind. People often use them as evergreen hedges in larger gardens, some city parks are full of them. And I come across them in woodlands that used to be part of estates. In my work in landscape management I've had to remove them, so I recognise what you mean when you say they are hard to kill.
I mean they are lovely to look at and, when controlled, they can be fine but of course the whole 'when controlled' bit is the unknown- it's all well and good until an estate is abandoned or a garden is neglected and suddenly they're sprouting everywhere!
I discovered your channel through the Kharkovchanka video. Loved that one, and went to take a look at the rest of your channel to discover you do videos about about (restoring) old tools and battling rhodondendrons, amongst others. Amazing. I love the way you tell stories, keep it up!
Meanwhile in Michigan. I moved three from back yard to front yard and they continue to struggle. They may be planted too deep.
Just plant them all in my front yard. They’ll die.
I’m having this problem with Laurel which has become huge and ever green, blocking out light in a 4 acre woods. About 1 acre now is just huge Laurel, dead underneath and about 50 feet tall. I’m working on cutting it all down.
Orcs from Warhammer, appreciated comparison.
Haha glad you enjoyed it!
Silly question(?) what if you hit them with a barrage of lime, would the alkalinity kill them?
That’s a good suggestion I’d think it would. I think the problem is you’d just need so much (in my situation) that cutting /burning/weed killer is the way to go
@@CalumRaasay And use lime to clean up the stragglers ;-)) hang in there man you're doing amazing work which many probably wouldn't bother with.
OMG! They're huge! Here in the US they don't get anywhere near that size.
Thanks for the information. I didn't know that. I do myself landscaping for part of my living in the summer.
*i will not forget, sir.*
😎🇺🇸
Bloody tonnes of them here on the South coast. Mainly in the woodlands surrounding the grand old estate houses.
Huge problem here in Ireland.Its everywhere and spreading at an alarming rate.I can't see how people can talk about rewilding areas until we find a solution.
Wow, best solution might be to use a chipper and cover up the ground with the woodchips to choke out any new growths, but it might require a crushing chipper to load in roots and all with a digger..
We have a chipper but most of the beaches are just that bit too thick or awkward. It’s really just the sheer volume that’s the problem, it takes ages! (as much as I love chipping!)
I've heard that Rhododendron ponticum can regenerate from even a small piece of the wood, so chipping and spreading it over the area you've cleared it from may well just result in fresh new shoots coming up all over the place. So it wouldn't be something I'd recommend, I think burning the cuttings and pulling out the stumps is the best thing to do rather than risk leaving any live wood around.
Took a trip to a local country park today and it was an infestation. Then on trip noticed them for miles on the roadside.
That raises the question why does that plant need to be so resilient, ie what in it's natural environment selects for those traits that make it such a great invasive species.
We have the same problem here in Greece with the species Ailanthus Altissima. We call it "stinking walnut tree" and the damn thing is everywhere. It was introduced in the days of king Otto in the first half of the 19th century at the Royal Garden (now National Garden) of Athens. Back in the day if it was Chinese, it was beautiful. Yet, that toxic species can produce up to 260000 sperms per tree a year. Now it thrives in urban and industrial sites all over the country and it has started to spread in rural areas too. The real problem is that it's growing through cracks in the walls and in a country that's literally one vast archeological site this can be devastating for the ancient ruins.
Unfortunately the term "invasive species" for the majority of the Greeks is something like ancient Akkadian or Sumerian and each tine the state try to get rid of the stinking walnut tree there's protest.
Many invasive plants in mainland eu aswell! Another annoying one and damaging one are a certain specie of “easy spreading” Lupin, even in Iceland they have issues, and finally Finland made the seed illegal to plant thankfully, I hope Sweden does the same as they are now on EVERY roadside..
Very good video, well done getting it in one take! Damn chainsaw 🤣🤣🤣
You badly need to move to Kent (not something I ever expected to write!). We cant grow them here because the soil is so alkaline. I'm lucky to have pretty neutral soil in my garden, so I can just about keep them alive, but it's a struggle. There's no danger of any of my bushes escaping and spreading!
Interesting to hear your pronunciation of rhododendron too. Down here we say 'road-oh-dendrum', not 'roddy-dendrum', the way you say it. I've never heard anyone call them "roddies"! But then they're not something people talk much about at all here in Darkest Kent - just a garden bush.
I have a 300 pound satsuki azalea. It is classified in the genus rhododendron. Should I go and rip it out of it's pot and burn it, following your advice: "Destroy all rhododendrons in Scotland"?
Alcathous that’s not my advice, that’s an article I linked that I used for research? But sure why not, burn away! 👍
"Ruddy-dendrons" 😅💯
I’m from the Pacific Northwest Washington stat. I’ll send all the European Starlings back and you can send me back our rhododendrons 😂 but that type looks quite a bit more aggressive than our native type
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Where as here in south Florida they almost impossible to grow and there are dozens if not hundreds of other species of plants that are invasive that people here have to deal with instead!!!
I like you’re choice in saw. Is that a 170 with a 14” bar? Cause I use a 170 with a 16” bar.
Im in Canada I had some of these in my yard, theyre tough, it wore out my chainsaw teeth and bar cutting them down.
It's true the Ponticum is a curse, but the wood is good for heating the back boiler, and there's some bonny Rhoddy cultivars about
How deep do the roots go? We don't have that plant where I live but we have similar nasty invasive species that basically does the same thing. They start poisoning everything around them and only their species survive and everything that isn't dies around them. Usually their roots go very deep and it's such a pain to get rid of them.
Should state it is only the ponticum variety in the UK that is invasive rather than the 100s of other non invasive variaties
Thanks so much for this interesting video!
have just bought Rhododendron Cunningham. Does this mean that I should keep it in the pot- I am really worried now because I don’t want it to destroy my incredible hydrangeas
Nah you’ll be fine. It’s rhododendron ponticum that’s so invasive.
Consider renting a device called a Forestry Mower or Forestry Mulcher. It would make quick work of that brush. A bulldozer or backhoe are other more aggressive options. Be careful around existing trees that you want to save. Avoid any damage to tree roots. Aerial application of herbicides followed by prescribed/controlled burns is used to remove invasives on large scales. Unfortunately, here is the U.S. we have devised all sorts of ways to kill plants quickly. We also have release countless invasive species that are destroying our natural species and ecosystems. Humans tend to repeat these historic mistakes, usually for the sake of making money.
It’s our state tree🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧 ( Sikkim - India )
Ive just purched half an acre of woodland to build a house within. The middle has been taken over by large rhododendron, 4m high, 30m wide. Ive just started cutting through it all, is there anything i should do with the stumps prior to a digger coming in september to prevent regrowth?
If the digger is coming in get them to pull out the root in its entirety, flip it over and burn it. Make sure nothing is left in the ground- you'll get lots of little bits regrowing that you missed, so keep a close eye and pull them out when you see them.
If it's a while before the digger arrives or you want to kill it now, order some roundup stump killer (or something that has glyphosate). Use a drill or a chainsaw to make incisions in the base of the rhododendron, preferably low down and below the branches. You'll need multiple holes or cuts depending how thick the branches are. Once you've made the incision, spray the exposed cuts with roundup (obviously this is a weedkiller so use protection and ensure no animals get near it - though the drill/cut methods means the weedkiller should remain in the rhododendron and not on the ground). Eventually, the glyphosate will travel through the sap to the branches and kill the plant. Though as always there's always going to be small resurgences here and there. A digger ripping out the roots and then burning the lot is probably the best method for larger systems.
In Australia it's gorse, broom, thistles, blackberries, rabbits, foxes, hares, ..., etc. Can you come and take them back please?
I’m sorry 😭
How are you doing 3 years on? 'Workaways' might be an idea, they're engaged in all sorts of projects for board and lodge, occasionally also pocket money.
I need to do an update! A lot of cleared and looking much better.