Growing in ex-Japanese Knotweed area

atprice

I bought a house 6 years ago which had JKW at the bottom of the garden (about 80ft away from the house). It was only in the last 6ft or so and was coming from railway land so I didn't panic. I contacted National Rail and between us we've been spraying our respective land twice a year.

This year is the first year I've not had any JKW in my garden (woohoo!), although it is still on the railway side of the fence. I've just found out that Network Rail are going to be cutting back some of the trees that are overhanging the line, which is a shame but I understand the necessity. I would really like to plant a semi-mature tree of my own at the bottom of the garden to try and offset some of the damage that's going to be done trackside, but I'm worried about stirring up the JKW again.

Am I being naive in thinking I can do this, or is it still possible do you think?

Mojisola

As the JWK is just the other side of the fence, you'll have to watch out for it and spray when it reappears so plant your tree and enjoy it.

atprice

That's the kind of answer I wanted hear, thank you.

I'll have to be really careful when I'm digging the hole for the tree and make sure I don't let any of the earth escape.

Davesnave

atprice wrote: »

I would really like to plant a semi-mature tree of my own at the bottom of the garden to try and offset some of the damage that's going to be done trackside, but I'm worried about stirring up the JKW again.

Am I being naive in thinking I can do this, or is it still possible do you think?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'semi-mature.' You may not be seeing that phrase through the same eyes as someone who knows genuinely semi mature trees are usually in very large pots and planted with a digger!

Unless you have a large income, such measures are OTT. A bare root or small potted tree planted in November will soon catch up and will usually settle in better than one costing hundreds. I have trees that cost just a few £ in 2014 that are now over 15'. None required me to disturb the planting area much.

A tree can still have any minor amounts of JK appearing close to it treated by spray or injection.

atprice

I was looking at getting something UK native that's good for wildlife, such as a hawthorn, but I understand that these tend to be slow growers.

Have you got any recommendations for something similar that wouldn't need a big price tag?

Thanks

Davesnave

Silver birch are pretty quick, and if you plant 3 close together the multi-stem effect is nice. Plain jane ones are only a few pounds bare root, whereas a named one, like ermanii, might be £35 each.


I do like the ordinary hawthorn as a tree for wildlife, and its cousins with larger, simpler, leaves and big berries, like prunifolia. I have a couple of those , taken as seed from the lawn outside the gents at RHS Rosemoor, but there are quicker ways!

https://www.chewvalleytrees.co.uk/products/detail/crataegus-prunifolia-splendens

I'm sure if you dig around you'll find some good trees as bare root. Fastest I know is Italian alder. Good, natural looking tree in 5 years flat.

atprice

My neighbour has a silver birch and there's another two doors down. I hate them. I spend three months of the year removing their seeds from every part of my house. The gutters are clogged as they form carpets of dense material and overflow. Nice to look at, horrible to deal with.

That said, I still like the idea of a hawthorn but will look at the alder to see how it goes with my "wildlife friendly" attempts 😁

Davesnave

We have no birch closer than 40m from the house and the rest are over 100m so the seeds aren't an issue here, but I remember them from work, where I had a wildlife area outside my window for many years. I'm not sure, but alders might pose the same problem, as they have similar seeds and dispersal.

Kay_Pemberton

You're right to be concerned about disturbing the knotweed area. Whilst you've successfully treated the aerial growth on your side of the boundary line, you will still have viable rhizomes in the soil. The knotweed is simply dormant, but not dead.
If you disturb the contaminated soil you will risk a few things:
1) disturbing the rhizomes and therefore "waking up" the knotweed again
2) spreading the rhizomes (a piece the size of your small finger nail can give rise to a new plant)
3) accidentally allowing it to encroach across the boundary line, not just to Network Rail, but to one of your other neighbours.
4) You can't take any of the arisings to your local recycling centre, so you will have to manage them on your own land - what will you do with them?

I strongly advise AGAINST planting ANYTHING in the knotweed affected area.

Arthog

I would recommend that you don't choose a Blackthorn tree! Any thorns on the ground are long and strong enough to puncture wellies and tyres, the trees produce hardly any sloes, and worst of all the tree ''forms a thicket'' which means it spreads rapidly. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, and I just can't understand why it is on lists of good trees!

Davesnave

Arthog wrote: »

I would recommend that you don't choose a Blackthorn tree...... I wouldn't wish it on anyone, and I just can't understand why it is on lists of good trees!

It may be on lists because of its wildlife value, rather than from a human perspective.

It's not on my list: we kill off over 100 small ones every year as they migrate sideways into our fields