Japanese knotweed in rear Site

eehouse

We are buying this house, about to exchange, mortgage approved in full etc, and this morning I get this lovely information from the neighbour.
It has been confirmed that there are a lot Japanese knotweed (JK) in the rear construct site (just 5-7 meters away from the rear garden, and the rear garden is about 30m long) planning for a flat there. They begin to employ professionals to treat this problem.

Today, I have found some "suspect" weeds at the boundary of the rear gardens. The pictures are here

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new figures

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new figures

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No idea where they are JKs and whether to buy the house. Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.

Money_maker

Have a look at this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/46990025#Comment_46990025

Probably best if you use google images to check if it is the same plant.

sirbrainy

Depends how much you like the house :cool:

JK can be eradicated without too much fuss or expense but if you can only do it in 'your' garden and it remains in your neighbours', it'll be back in due course.

Control
Japanese knotweed has a large underground network of roots (rhizomes). To eradicate the plant the roots need to be killed. All above-ground portions of the plant need to be controlled repeatedly for several years in order to weaken and kill the entire patch. Picking the right herbicide is essential, as it must travel through the plant and into the root system below. Glyphosate is the best active ingredient in herbicide for use on Japanese knotweed as it is ’systemic’; it penetrates through the whole plant and travels to the roots.I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"][COLOR=#0066cc]citation needed[/COLOR][/URL][/I
Digging up the rhizomes is a common solution where the land is to be developed, as this is quicker than the use of herbicides, but disposal of the plant material is difficult, governed by law in the UK, where it is classed as controlled waste.
More ecologically friendly means are being tested as an alternative to chemical treatments. Soil steam sterilization [14] involves injecting steam into contaminated soil in order to kill subterranean plant parts.

glasgowdan

Those photos do not show knotweed.

If you do find any in future DO NOT DIG IT UP! This breaks up the rhizomes into smaller pieces and it will spread. If it is young plants (reddish heart-shaped leaves) you can spray them with glyphosate (roundup). If the plants are larger you cut them close to the ground and apply undiluted glyphosate into the stems. The growth cut off must be burned and NOT put into the compost bin.

If you like the house I would buy it and contact the builder of the new property to make them aware you may be in touch should the weed spread.

Cheers
Dan

eehouse

Thanks for all your advice.
It is frustrated as we are first time buyer and we are almost to finish. The previous house has structural problems and this one is potentially with JKs……
The good news is that the builder seems to come to inject the weedicide every month for these JKs.
We will try to contact the builder and let you know the outcome later.
I will appreciate any comments for this…

Patchwork_Quilt

I would not buy anything with knotweed nearby. I have heard that some mortgage companies refuse to lend.

A friend with her own gardening business found some in a garden that she is renovating. It is spreading into next door's garden. The cost of sorting it out is £1500 for a small patch and it is going to take three years, during which time nothing can be grown in that patch at all. The neighbour is also having to treat his patch.

Can you hire someone (independent JK specialist) to give you a definite diagnosis and a price for sorting it out?

Good luck

emiff6

Welcome to MSE eehouse. As sirbrainy says, it depends how much you like the house. I would definitely speak to your mortgage lender about this and ask their advice, as JK can knock as much as £10000 off the price of the property, plus, you may not be able to sell it again.

Some mortgage lenders will not give mortgages for property with JK on or nearby. Have a look at this info

If you really love the house, maybe the sellers can be persuaded to reduce the price? Certainly speak to them about it. I have a feeling it is a legal requirement to disclose the presence of JK (I could be wrong though), so if they tried to hide it from you they may be liable for misrepresentation

Personally I would not touch it with a bargepole if it was on sale for a tenner:D

glasgowdan

Knotweed is not as bad a problem that people seem to be bigging it up to be. You can treat it yourself if you find young plants in your ground, using glyphosate ('roundup') products. You just need to schedule in regular inspections of the area. every 3 months. Spray any young plants with glyph, and keep vigilant.

So-called specialists charge a fortune based on the assumption that people will pay it.

Just remember don't put any of it in a compost bin, you own or the councils. Burn any foliage, look out for young reddish plants with heart-shaped leaves and spray them, within 1 and a half seasons you should have eradicated the problem, assuming 3-monthly checks April-July-Sep/Oct.

The EA state:

It is not an offence to have Japanese knotweed on your
land and it is not a notifiable weed. Allowing Japanese
knotweed to grow onto other peoples property may be
regarded as a private nuisance under common law, but

this would be a civil matter.

If you find it on your land you are not obliged to report it to anyone, but you must not replant it, or remove contaminated soil or plant material from the land.

angelavdavis

My other half (who surveys land for property developers) initially reacted by saying "don't touch it with a bargepole". I personally would not buy a property with the threat of encroaching JK on the land.

You need to read the Environment Agency's page on JK: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/130079.aspx

Raise the issue with your solicitor, get him to ask the direct question of whether the seller is aware of invasive weeds being within the plot of bordering the plot. If they deny the issue this could help you in future a little. I do think some of the pics you posted of cut off weeds suggest a tendency to hide something, but perhaps that is me being suspicious.

If you have acres, a small area of JK isn't an issue, if you are in the suburbs or in town, it could well be an issue. I know of areas of land locally where JK has crept in from next door and as a result, the land is not saleable.

You could have a future issue on your hands.

Angelfeathers

That's definitely not knotweed in your pictures. :-)

I read somewhere that you could try putting a root barrier in beneath (or just inside, I guess) your fence so that the roots can't get through. Might be worth a try in this instance?

officeguru

Hi.. We have had JK at the bottom of our gardens for the 25 years or more that I have lived here... It is growing on a waste strip of ground behind the dykes.. It has never bothered me or the neighbours to my knowledge.. I have never had it encroach on my garden whereas one of my neighbours, who's garden is mostly grass seems to get young plants in the spring but he cuts them down with the lawn mower that often that they give up the ghost quite quickly.. It might have been a different story if the dykes hadn't been there but I find mare's tail a far greater nightmare and some of our neighbour's sycamore trees...

Years ago, my husband dug a trench between the JK and the back of the wall so I don't know if that has stopped it coming any nearer... It also grows over 5 ft high and acts as a total barrier between us and the hooligans that live across from us.... As far as weakening the wall, there is no evidence of this... In fact, the only time the wall was weakened was when a lorry hit it... It is also a good bit away from our houses as the gardens are very long...

Cheers