Japanese knotweed

[lilyjean]

Help! how serious is this Japanese knotweed, its causing great concerns to various folk in the village. It has been sighted near the allotments. If it is serious how does one get rid of it and whose is responsible for the job;Parish Council or the Environmental Department?

I've never heard of this plant before!   :(

[lilyjean]

[valmarg]

It is one of the 'lovely' ornamental plants introduced by (I think) the victorians.

It is a complete, total, absolute and utter thug, putting it mildly. ;D  It is illegal to dig it up with a view to planting it elsewhere.

Your only option is weedkiller.  I don't know who is responsible for applying it, but I would tend to do it myself.

valmarg

[lilyjean]

Wow! Thank you for the info   :) very helpful. Fancy it being classed as an ornamental plant.....the Victorians certainly introduced a lot of interesting plants into this country!

[saddad]

Make sure the council know it's there... and ask them what they are doing about it...  :-X

[Robert_Brenchley]

It doesn't spread that fast, except down waterways, but once it's established it's extremely hard to get rid of. The Council have been trying to kill it off on my allotment site for years, and there's still some there.

[lilyjean]

Thank you Robert for replying to my post. Which Council tried getting rid of it? and what kind of measures did they take to get rid of it. We have some very conflicting views on this subject. It seems like that even our Local Council are a little in the dark and have not been very helpful.  ???

[Robert_Brenchley]

Birmingam City Council. They're pretty good about trying, unlike some Councils. The trick is to come at a particular time of year - I think it's September, though I'm not certain - and tip glyphosate down inside the hollow stems. The idea is that it's then drawn back into the roots. It takes a hell of a lot of killing though!

[Unwashed]

There's no legal obligation to get rid of japanese knotweed, and it's up to the landowner to do anything about it.  However, if you remove it from site it's controllable waste so you need to use a registered waste carrier.

[Stopp]

Or you could eat it!!  Never tried it myself

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sussex/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8634000/8634285.stm

[electric landlady]

If you've never seen it before (or even if you have) it resembles a sort of 12 foot high bamboo, with thick pinkish stems, heart-shaped leaves and white tassely flowers. It does look quite attractive (hence the Victorians thinking "what a lovely ornamental plant that would be in my garden") but don't be taken in! It is a thug which if unchecked will smother all the surrounding indigenous plants and trees, and I've seen pictures of it growing up through masonry in people's houses  :o :o

I have this on the border of my plot on the other side of the chainlink fence. It keeps trying to grow through and as far as I know, glyphosate is the only answer - each time a shoot pops up on my side, I zap it with a very concentrated solution. You can't really dig it up as the roots go down up to 5 metres. Whatever you do don't rotavate as that will only spread it around - think 1000's of chopped up little bits of roots, each one of which will grow into a new plant.  

If it's growing on council land, the council really ought to be doing something about it. If private land,it's up to the landowner although there's no law which says they must tackle it. It's an offence to encourage it to grow in any way though (I believe), and as others have said if you do dig any up it's controlled waste and so you can't just stick it in your bin. Never tried eating it, but if it was edible it would be a never ending supply of food...

So all in all...I would say yes, it is serious. Good luck in trying to get rid of it!

[Obelixx]

I though this was a notifiable weed.  in any case it's a menace.  There is a trial going on to introduce a knotweed specific pest that kills the plant and is reputed not to spread to relatives in the persicaria family.

I've recently spotted this stuff growing in waste land near me alongside a lane where I walk my dog.  It's gone from new shoots to 2 metres in high in a matter of weeks, despite the drought.    I shall have to wait and see what the local council thinks as it may not be regarded as a pest in Belgium but I certainly don't want it anywhere near my garden which is just a couple of hundred metres away across a boggy pasture and a stream.

[Alimo]

It grows and spreads like wild-fire.  Here in cornwall it's a huge menace.

The council and NT have been doing tests on how best to get rid of it.

Alison

[Unwashed]

I've tried to get to the bottom of the idea that certain weeds are "notifiable", and the best that I can find is that under the Weeds Act 1959 the landowner can be served with notice to control any of the five weeds listed in the legislation; common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), broadleaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius), curled leaved dock (Rumex crispus), spear thistle (Circium vulgare), and creeping thistle (Circium arvensis) (and possible others added by Regulations, but I don't know that any ever were).

So I don't believe there has ever been a requirement to notify the authorities of the existence of any weed.

Japanese knotweed is a sceduled weed under the Widlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to introduce it to the wild, but there's no prohibition to having it on your land.

Japanese knotweed is also sceduled by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which places a duty of care on anyone dealing with the stuff not to distribute it, and making it controllable waste.

[lilyjean]

My thanks to everyone for replying to my post. You'll been very helpful. I have learnt so much about this extraordinary weed. With all your tips and info. will enable me to take this to our next meeting. Lots and lots of  appreciation!   :) Thank you!