Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Please help me what are these roots? Japanese knotweed?

edited August 2020 in Problem solving
Hi there are this is my first post so apologies if I get anything wrong.

I've recently moved into a new rented accommodation, the person that lived here before was here for apparently around 7 years.

from what I can gather from the neighbours the person didn't do anything with the garden at all and just let it grow wild.

When I got here the nettles were shoulder height, and have been that way for a long long time apparently.

I know nothing at all about gardening hence my post here lol so I just went across the whole garden with a strimmer and put weed killer down across the whole garden.
That seems to have done the trick as everything is yellow and dead.

I'm going to eventually pave over the garden so I started digging up the old dead grass and I came across a big root. Pulling it I ended up up at the other side of the garden still pulling.
I assumed these roots were obviously nettle roots because nothing has been done to the garden for about 7 years, but a friend popped round and noticed a plant and said that I needed to be careful because it looks like Japanese knotweed.

Although I'm not a gardener I do know that this is bad!

There seems to be be a maze of these roots going across the whole garden I'm having to dig them out and and pull them across the whole garden.

can somebody please have a look at these roots that I've pulled up and let me know what I'm dealing with please.

I've also managed to pull one up the end where I assumed the plant was, and they look like small tubes I'll attach the pictures.

Thank you to anyone that's read my rambling so far.
«13

Posts

  • edited August 2020
    Also noticed at the back of shed the neighbours have a weird dead bamboo looking thing, managed to take a sneaky pic
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Unfortunately the dead weird bamboo thing does look a lot like Japanese Knotweed; can't tell if those are its roots though.

    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Ugh, I thought it would be, I've just been to the back of the shed an dug down a bit, yep roots there, also they are orange!! 

    It's everywhere across the garden 😭
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    If it is Japanese knotweed, l think the first thing to do is make your landlord aware of it. 
    It certainly sounds like it from the orange coloured roots. Have a look at the information here
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=218
  • I've just called them, and they've asked me to call the council and make them aware 

    Thanks for your help 
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Nettles have orange roots, so that might be what the last picture shows.  It's not often possible to identify plants by the roots; if you'd taken pictures of the top growth before you demolished it, we could have been more help.  They will probably all grow again; it usually takes repeated applications of weedkiller to kill weeds that are so well established.  If you show us some photos of the re-growth, we can probably ID it.  If you do have Japanese Knotweed, you'll need to get a specialist contractor in to remove it, because they will probably need to remove the soil as well, and dispose of it in a designated site.  You shouldn't have to pay for this, it is the landlord's responsibility, and he/she/they should have dealt with it before now.  They will probably say they didn't know.  You local council should be able to advise you.
  • Thank you

    I didn't take any pictures before unfortunately, and there doesn't seem to be any regrowth after a few weeks as I put a really strong weed killer down (my parents know a farmer so he gave them some of the stuff he uses that is really strong)  

    Do nettle roots grow like this too, and be really thick like tree roots?

    If the previous tennant left them that long I suppose it could be that, but the bamboo stuff in the garden that backs onto mine makes me think maybe otherwise, unless it is actually bamboo I suppose.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    This is what the regrowth will look like

    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Yeah I don't have any regrowth of anything at the minute, everything is dead and yellow lol 
  • The second picture down from the original post is part of a regrowth, I dug that up with a chunk of grass, it's like a tube shaped thing 🤷‍♀️
Sign In or Register to comment.