Japanese Knotweed in neighbours garden

Kayalana99

I suppose its a pointless post now but we were 'thinking' about buying a house with Knotweed and then found out it would cost 5k to remove it....and it was no where near as bad as you have said your neighbours is.

It really is dangerous stuff & would not be in your best interest to pay out for it to be removed!

Davesnave

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I suppose its a pointless post now but we were 'thinking' about buying a house with Knotweed and then found out it would cost 5k to remove it....and it was no where near as bad as you have said your neighbours is.

But if you did it yourself it would cost much less than that.

As RAS pointed out, there are easily researchable methods for dealing with JK, just as there are for other weeds, such as bracken.

As you've seen here however, neighbours won't necessarily exercise the same diligence, or they may not possess the practical nous to achieve a result, so if there is the potential for re-infestation, that must be considered very carefully.

elantan

We have had similar problems with land bordering our own, only no one can trace the owner of the land, we treat it every year with the glysophate, once at the start I the season and once at the end, the glysophate is quite effective but it does take a long time to eradicate the problem, please make sure you burn everything as well .. And don't burn it on your land burn it on his

patman99

If the Council has a backbone, then it will use it's powers to issue a 'fix it or lose it' notice. If the owner ignores that, the Council can take possession of his property and either -

1) Fix it and bill him for it
2) Fix it & add it to their Council Housing stock with a view to paying him the bare value.
3) Pay to fix it all up on the grounds that they are able to house tenants in it for free until the cost of repairs are paid-off.
4) Make a loan for repairs to the owner with an agreement that the Council will find a tenant & fix the rent at a level that enables the owner to pay back the loan & make a profit on top.

Number '2' was recently done by Tendring District Council to a property in Clacton that had been unlived in for 10 years and was an eyesore..

No. '4' has been done by Maldon (essex) Council who now have 1 extra house to house a tenant in & one happy home owner whose job had taken them up North, hence not being round to maintain the house.

Anyway, I remember that a few years back, JKW was a reportable weed that needed reporting to DEFRA upon discovery.

Madjock

yes it is, and you should make sure it is disposed of only at an authorised site.

Ivana_Tinkle

Japanese Knotweed isn't notifiable and isn't covered by the Weeds Act. It's just a pain! Some councils let you dispose of it at a normal tip as long as you double-bag it, but you need to check as they vary massively. (Much easier to burn it if you can.)

patman99

Thanks Ivana. Good link HERE for info.

CitizenX

Thanks for the responses - great advice all round, which has been a big help to me.

re: clearing it ourselves - the garden is huge and massively overgrown and , TBH, I don't physically have the time, energy or money to sort his mess out . It isn't just a case of spray a few stalks - it's a bloody forest of the stuff!

Also, the owner is the type of person who would ( and could) report us for criminal damage to his property if we tried to clear it ( he has done this to another neighbour previously). The irony is that us clearing his garden is potentially a criminal offence, whereas his neglect ( leading to our property being un motgageable) is a civil issue.

Anyway, I am going to keep the pressure on the council, and hope they in turn keep the pressure on the owner. Apaprently they will be contancting me this week to let me know what they plan to do.

I will keep you all updated .

Ivana_Tinkle

patman99 wrote: »

Thanks Ivana. Good link HERE for info.

Yup, we've got all the weeds listed there, plus knotweed too. I wonder if I get a prize