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InvestigatesSoil InvadersTEN YEARS AGO, rhododendron in the Knockmealdown Mountains hit the headlines as being a problem when a couple in their 50s got stuck in a very dense forest of it and had to be rescued.
This plant covers much of this area and visitors go there to see the pink blanket of flowers when they bloom every summer.
“People come from all over the country just to witness it,” local Liam Fleming from Clogheen in Co Tipperary told The Journal Investigates.
To encourage people to do more than drive through and take a photo, Fleming and an organising committee set up the Rhododendron Walking Festival which runs every June.
Tipperary County Council supports the walking festival with a community grant. At the same time the council is spending thousands each year tackling invasive species.
As well as guided walks, this event attracts walkers with “delicious food and entertainment… and of course the stunning scenery especially with the rhododendrons in full bloom”, according to one of its social media posts.
But though it looks pretty, this is one of the most invasive species impacting rural Ireland. Without management, it forms dense dark thickets, outcompeting native trees such as oak and hazel.
“Yes it’s beautiful. Yes it’s a tourist attraction in places,” according to the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s webpage on the plant, but “it severely impacts on many of our woodland and bog areas” and “slowly kills our woodlands”.
Not only are they bad for our local ecosystems, it was estimated over ten years ago that invasive and non-native species cost the Irish and Northern Irish economy €261m a year.
Management of invasive species, including rhododendron, are a huge financial drain on councils and public bodies.
Over €245k was spent by Tipperary Co Co alone on the management of invasive species over a four-year-period from July 2020 to August 2024.
From records we obtained through an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request, this was mainly on the spraying of Japanese knotweed.
When asked about helping to fund a festival named after such an invasive species, the council did not respond in time for publication.
Neither the council nor the festival organisers would detail the amount of money given to the festival, but Fleming said that it was “very little” and most of their funding comes from walkers.
Is the festival celebrating the rhododendron? Fleming said that they have “done plenty of workshops to educate people” about the plant.
That includes a ‘Leave No Trace’ programme where they tell attendees not to spread seeds and to wash boots after they come out of an area, he added.
“Even in our own area, most people wouldn’t be aware that they’re an invasive species. We’ve educated a lot more people.”
Fleming is not aware of any active rhododendron eradication programme in the area where the walks are run. “A variety of stakeholders” would need to be consulted for this to happen, he said.
The walking festival developed from a community enterprise, Siul Eile, whose aim is to bring communities together to form walking programs and challenges.
Fleming said that people “come on walks but were coming back for the social connection”, something he said was often gone in rural Ireland.
Our full Soil Invaders series on the impact of invasive plants is out now >>
Reporter & Editor: Maria Delaney • Additional Research: Anthea Lacchia • Social Media: Sadbh Cox
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“Dad what’s that flower called ?
“Well son that’s a rhododendron”
How do you spell that ?
On second thought, i think that’s a rose
@larry smith: there’s a richie Kavanagh song to be written about that plant,if he’s still alive
Great series. People have gone mad for Cherry Laurel too and it’s choking out woods. They create dead zones. Birds don’t land on them or use them for cover and there’s nothing to forage on underneath.
Ever one off house in my area has it planted at their boundary in the last 10 years. Should be illegal.
@Ronan Mc: People should plant native hedges, cherry laurels contain cyanide so the birds are probably wise
@Ronan Mc: fwiw All our forest plantations are dead inside. With or without cherry Laurel. Forests are so densely planted not a bird inside. Anyway, cherry Laurel not banned by NPWS but probably should, yes.
Isnt Michael Healy Rae being made the super junior minister of rhododendrons?
I saw a garden centre advertise Rhododendron for sale on their social media. I called them out and it was removed, but I am sure it happens elsewhere.
@Ann Kennan: Apparently there are 200 types of Rhododendrons, and the only pest is Rhododendron Ponticum!
@Ann Kennan: good woman yourself Karen. You should be in government
Does anyone on here ever regret opening up this site/ app as it’s getting so depressing?? But yet we somehow always seem to back for more.
@Donna Fallon: Personally, I’m just here for Larry’s dad jokes.
@Donna Fallon: Only you,my dear. Only you. But it’s nice to chat and mingle in a cesspit of filth every now and again. Nothing brings us back down to earth again as quickly as a malfunctioning Temu parachute.
@Chop Chop: For that comment,I sentence you to ten Hail Mary’s and two Our Father’s. It used to be one Our Father. Times have changed.
@Larry Betts: Only youuu can make the darkness bright…
@Chop Chop: We all need a bit of that… lol!!
@Donna Fallon: Awww thanks Madonna.
@Dave f Doe: Pri ck.
@Donna Fallon: but you seem to be commenting on every article possible so I don’t think you’re sick of it to be honest possibly addicted to commenting
Bindweed is a divil in my garden. The flowers are pretty nice though and at least it dies back in winter.
@Chop Chop: I saw bindweed in Italy a few years back, the flowers weren’t white but a kind of electric blue, beautiful!
@Chop Chop: If you have bindweed in your garden,Chop Chop,do you know what you should do? You should chop and chop,Chop Chop,and don’t stop chopping til the chopper chops the lot.
@Larry Betts: On a roll Larry!
@Larry Betts: You’ve got the makings of a Dr. Seuss book there!
@Brian Hunt: Maybe I’ll get some seeds… it would like nice and also give the journal something to write about next year :-)
@Brian Hunt: The Greens tried to outlaw bindweed imported from Italy a few years ago. They said the electric blue flowers were bad for the environment. They preferred solar powered bindweed that gave off a yellow hue,or wind powered white bindweed.
@Chop Chop: Don’t plant them until after The Journal poll. “Have you ever planted an invasive species? Leave your answers in the comments below”
Maybe instead of poisoning the Japanese Knotweed, we could do like the Japanese and eat it – ideally as young sprouts (before it flowers). It tastes a slight bit rhubarby but when cooked is more like asparagus. It’s rich in plant bioactives like resveratrol, flavonoids and some of the beneficial antioxidant chemicals from green tea. It could and should be kept in check in this way rather than our current approach. The poisons don’t work. Eating does. Obviously not an option right now as they’re laden with weedkiller.
@Peter Conry: Shit. I just ate some before I’d finished reading your comment.
@Peter Conry: it’s held in check in Japan by native fungi and insects.
@JoeJoe Kilbride: yep, they’re important, along with other plants that compete for the same space.
Invasive species are indeed a problem……
Tipperary. Sure it can’t be that bad if someone’s going to make a few quid then. God help us.
We’re having a festival, Its called “Watch Your House Burn to the ground”, sure it’s very destructive and the tickets cost a lot but the flames are so pretty
The vee should be turned into a national park. (All mountain ranges IMO) Then let Parks & Wildlife & local volunteers start clearing this invasive species. In years to come the mountains could be purple with native heather.
Might as well ban everything that grows out there then , next it will be spuds etc
I’ve got three beauties in my back garden but they never recreate!
@Hotirish: Nuns,Dougal. They’re called nuns.
Laurel also a problem!
If it is such a problem why are garden centres allowed to sell it?
have your say