Japanese Knotweed in Garden... wasteland at rear

ro_ava

Hi all
We have some knotweed (8-10) plants in our garden at the back about 40ft away from the house. Some are mature and some are new. The rear of the garden is out of sight from the house and i have to admit I have not enquired what these plants were til now.

At the back of our property is a small parch of wasteland which as far as i know is not owned by anyone, as at the time of purchase it was was available to purchase with this property for £250 (does this mean that the council in fact own it?) 

I've looked over the fence and noticed that all the neighbours in the street have been dumping garden waste over there and in amongst this there is a few knotweed plants. 

I was wondering whether as i only have a small number of plants to try and treat the problem in my garden myself or whether to notify the council that there is knotweed on the wasteland. I am concerned whether, if i point it out, they may try and say its come from my garden. 

Alternatively, I was wondering whether I could make a claim against whoever owns the land to treat the weeds in my garden as I know it will be costly.

Grenage

It needn't be costly, or much grief.  Do a bit of reading on treating JKW yourself and buy some glyphosate (like Rosate 360, etc).  I'd probably just treat your plants and the wasteland myself.

The_Warned

I agree with Grenage that a personal knotweed eradication programme would be the best way forward, provided you are a methodical person willing to follow guidelines for treatment. There is nothing supernatural about knotweed, but getting rid of it means understanding its life cycle and persisting with treatment for a few years.

You might have a better chance of persuading the council to treat the waste land if yours is free of the weed, but councils are super-stretched at present. They certainly won't be looking to frame you for the knotweed, nor will you find it cheap or easy to go after them!

RAS

Hi Read the RHS guidance here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=218

There used to be some guidance on the method used to clear it in National Parks, which we followed. Use high concentrate glysophate, as per the RHS instruction, applied to the cut canes. We actually cut them in August well above a node and injected the weed killer into the hollow stem, ask the chemist for a syringe about 50p. That avoids spray contamination.  We had minimal regrowth the following year, which we sprayed because it was so small.  You do need to keep on top of it because the odd surviving root can regenerate a few years later, but one bottle of weedkiller will do your patch and the waste land several times over.

ro_ava

Thank you for your useful responses. Ive never gardened before in my life  but ive found an interest during lockdown and its really nice to come on the forum and have some positive advice.

I think you hear such horror stories about knotweed that I got a bit scared about it and the legal aspects.

I will give it a go myself.

Davesnave

If you opt for injection, getting the kit is slightly harder and you also need self discipline to wait until later in the year to do the deed, because effectiveness depends on the glyphosate being taken down deep into the roots as the plant's upper section dies back.

Done correctly, it's probably the best way and the least disruptive to the existing garden.

Newspapers, especially the red tops had JK as their bette noir for a good number of years. As with most things they report, the veracity of the subject matter was of less concern than creating a good, and preferably alarming, story.

Davesnave

Thank you for reporting john10209 for spamming the forum. He's vanished.