Japanese Knotweed

jimbugalee

Hi all,

Our next door neighbour has some Japanese Knotweed growing at the front of her garden. It's almost pushed our fence over and it will get under our driveway soon I think.

Luckily we are planning to re-do the whole driveway within the next year or so but I am thinking we need to get rid of it? Sounds quite dangerous!!!

The lady next door is pretty old so she wouldn't get rid of it but I also don't think she's mind if we did. I had a thought that it's a council property next door (ours isn't) and maybe they would remove it as it's really dangerous?

Any thoughts?

Many thanks

Gemma

skelly01

Hi,

if it is a council property and it is invading your property then they have a legal obligation to remove it under environmental legislation. I work in the rail industry and this stuff is the bain of our lives and is really difiicult to eradicate. It is best left to professionals.
It isn't dangerous as such, IE if you touch it it does no harm unless eaten. its the roots that do the damage they have been known to grow through concrete.

jimbugalee

Yeh, that's what I have read. We have just moved into this house and although it's not really causing any harm now apart from we need to keep trimming it back (apparently you have to dispose of the cuttings safely?) but I don't want it there when we get a new drive.

jabba4

Sorry, why's it so dangerous ? The sap is an irritant, so wear gloves and long sleaves when it's cut and pulled up.

If it's a council property I'd contact the council about it because knotweed is one of those plants that has to be burned on site or disposed of carefully. It's against the law to just put it into landfill. The council will be able to tell you more.

jimbugalee

I thought it was dangerous because of the damage it causes to property .... the roots mainly.

The disposing this erm the law just states this:

• The Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981 states that it is an offence to plant or otherwise cause Knotweed to grow in the wild.
• The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990, Duty of Care Regulations 1991, states that cut knotweed material and soil containing rhizomes must be disposed of as controlled waste if they are to be removed from their site of origin.
• Third Party litigation, where you can be sued for costs and damages if you allow Knotweed to spread from your property onto that of an adjacent landowner.

Elsewhere

The young shoots are supposed to be edible (haven't tried them myself though) - eg.:

http://www.newfs.org/protect/invasive-plants/japanese-knotweed-recipes.html

amcluesent

Best bet is to send a recorded letter to the council stating that Japanese Knotweed is growing on a council property at xxx. As damage is now being suffered by your property, unless they take action within two weeks, you will be instructing your insurer/solicitor to recover costs and damages citing breach Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990, Duty of Care Regulations 1991.

Elsewhere

Wow - this uses more of it - Knotweed wine
http://cabd0.tripod.com/cabsmushroompage/id28.html

skelly01

Original Op do not cut it, as you rightly said it must be disposed of by a liscensed waste carrier. if you merely take it to a tip or anything like that, it is you who is breaking the law.
As I said the council are legally obligated under the legislation you have quoted to remove it, I am sure if you called the environment agency they would advise you.
Jabba I think you are thinking of giant hogweed as being the one that burns when cut. Again this must be dealt with in the same manner as the knotweed if encountered.
Amcluesent is spot on with the way to tackle this.
Shame its so aggressive it is quite a pretty weed lol.

duncan303

I acquired a neglected property some years ago that had very well established Japanese knotweed in an area of garden, several plants approx 8-10ft high. three main groups approx 12 - 18 ft apart.

I had no one to blame, take to court or cite statutory instruments to or otherwise, so I just got on with dealing with it myself.

in non horticultural language I understood it to be probably one plant with a large ball maybe the size of a basketball or medicine ball some 4 or more feet underground bit like a single giant potato.

To get rid of it I either had to dig it up, the ball and all the roots and leave not one speck of broken root in the soil or treat it from above.

I decided to treat it systemically but there is a problem with using a spray or a wax stick in that the leaves are broad and waxy. the glycophosfy stuff or whichever you choose would either just run of the leaves or not penetrate into the system. I had tried to add the liquid to oil and gels so I could paint that on the leaves but the individually treated leaves withered and died.

The long and the short is that I tried all sorts of things, different times of day and seasons.


But the following worked and I have not seen any evidence of any of the knotweed for that last 11 years. It relies on getting the roundup into the plant without any damage to the plant itself. I adopted two methods and treated only one group.The first method was to obtain clear thin plastic bags(like a supermarket vegetable bag) a small ball of cotton wool "lightly dabbed" in roundup and using a loose rubber band contain one or more leaves inside. If the rubber band is too tight or there is too much roundup the leaves wither. This method causes a vapour of roundup to surround the leaves without damage to the leaves and permits the roundup to enter the plant system. replace every few days.

The second method I used was to inject small quantities of roundup into the stems just above the knobbly bits. Knotweed stem is like bamboo it has a hollow centre with plugs every foot or so. I accept that maybe not everyone has access to medical needles and syringes but I cannot see why, im sure you must be able to get them in a pharmacy. Anyway again if you inject too much the whole stem will react and wither. the trick is to gradually feed it with the chemical causing the least damage possible to the plant.

I think the bag system was best anyway you can tell how you are doing from the satellite groups when they start to react (and remember you have not touched them) then the knotweed is on its way out. Good if you want to kill the stuff and its not on your land.


seemed to work for me so:

a clear plastic bag
liquid roundup or similar systemic
rubber band
cotton wool

and a bit of patience....... remember you are trying to make the ball underground die.


good luck!

Keep all chemical away from children and pets, do not breath any vapour, wash your hands after touching equipment, safely dispose of any needle or sharp object (place the needle upside down inside syringe and squeeze plunger back). And for god's sake if you do use a syringe DO NOT inject yourself! :eek:


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