going slightly off track - we have knotweed where I live, but a MUCH bigger problem with gunnera!! someone introduced it to the island 10 or so years ago and it has spread like wildfire, in other peoples gardens, crofts, roadsides, the local village, it is now working its way up the surround hills. the local management committee have an ongoing plan to irradicate it from public spaces, but on private land it is the owners responsibility. We moved here just over 2 years ago now and the house had been empty for over 2 years so we had PLENTY of gunnera in our garden. By this summer we have irradicated it, almost, I found a small piece the other day. We tackled it with Roundup as per instructions the first year - no effect, the second year much stronger solution and applied it 4 or 5 times during the year. Then when it looked dead dug up the roots which still had signs of life in them and disposed of them safely. I think it helped that here last year was the driest anyone can remember and gunnera don't like the dry!! it will be a long process to get rid of it completely from the island, just like getting rid of the mink was!! Moral of the Story - please, please, please be very careful about what you introduce to the area especially if you live in a rural area where things can go unnoticed until its too late!!
Apologies if my posts are bit blunt - some of the methods to remove knotweed just wont work and they are expensive, plus they have a range of further negative impacts upon the environment... Ill leave ranting anymore about it after this post!
Will address your post and add some further info. Before I start, I agree with you!
“Hi some time ago we were thinking of purchasing a house in Pembrokeshire and in the suryey notweed was found on the land,let me just say that after talking to the surveyer ,the council ,the solicitor i was amazed at the effect Jap Knot can have on the garden AND the surrounding areas,i was warned that it would be my job to get rid of it and if it could be proved that it had spread to anyone elses property i would be to blame and suffer the cost of removal,”
This is very true, to an extent. The law states that you “should not allow Japanese knotweed (JK) to grow in the wild”. What actually constitutes the wild is a difficult point in itself: proving you did spread JK , following purchasing an already infested property is even harder. However, surveyors at present are jumpy (in some cases reasonably so, quite often, not so much!); I saw a guy declined for a mortgage with one stem of JK in his garden and a huge stand at least 5 doors down (more than 75m away). This might sound reasonable, until you realise he was in South Wales: there are quite a lot of places with a little bit of JK and loads just around the corner! This is not a reasonable approach to dealing with JK.
Further, in terms of control, particularly with respect to excavating JK rhizome; even herbicide treated “dead” JK rhizome - please dont do it. It is exceptionally difficult to tell whether it is alive or dead. Incidentally revised figures for JK rhizome regeneration rates suggest that as little as 0.068g (rather than 0.7g) will produce a new plant. Its hard to tell if its all dead - there could be kilos of it... also remember that stems and leaves will produce a new plant - this is not a scare story, there is scientific literature relating to it (please see Google Scholar). Throwing it in domestic waste, even if it looks dead is very risky and could be interpreted as “deliberate” introduction to somewhere else - “wild” (even if its a landfill site!).
“my solicitor gave me a phone number of a specialist in Jap Knot who i spoke to,he explained all the do,s and donts about this plant and how to get rid of it,most people who try the job themselves fail, becouse of other problems as well we decided not to buy,i have the phone number of this specialist if anyone wants to talk to him ,he is a very nice chap and knows exactly what he,s talking about ,if i came across Jap Knot again i would not even try to get rid myself i,d call this man for advise, if anyone wants this phone no Email me and ill send it to you , please dont think im scare mongering ,im not as this weed has caused many a tear for many people”
Absolutely, if you are not confident in herbicide application and dont have the time/inclination to follow it up, dont try ad-hoc interventions etc. If you are based in Pembroke, Im sure this specialist is a good deal. In other circumstances, get at least a few quotes - most companies (particularly smaller ones) will charge a lot, for a short-term service. What you should look at is not only the herbicide type etc., but the number of visits “billed” by the company. Companies that undertake to revisit your property for a number of years within your contract (what youre paying for) are effectively acknowledging that repeat site visits will be required.
However, if you are to going to attempt control, here are some good (and not so good!)
Hi Dan you are quite right about mortgages and JK we were advised that luckily we did not require one but would we would have not got one anyway if we had wanted one,and yes the treatment from this chap was over 2 or 3 years and guaranteed for £500 as i said we didnt buy but but im fully aware of it for the future .
Hi currently in the process of trying to buy a ground floor maisonette and the survey showed japenese knotweed 7m on neighbouring boundary.Been waiting for the vendor to get a survey done on it for 4 weeks,then the estate agent confirms that a report has been done,but it will take a week to get it.In the meantime Nationwide mortgage offer is about to expire,as they wont give me a mortgage without a report and 5yr guarantee.The estate agent has also said that the company who did this japenese knotweed survey,have said to him that it's to short to treat and therefore does not require a 5yr guarantee.I am at the end of my tether on this,any adivise or are they lying to me?
I have got rid of a patch of knotweed by doing the following - at a time it is growing strongly cut the stems down to about 9 inches, make notch in them to increase the area of hollow stem visible and pour brushwood killer crystals into the stem. If they are in an exposed area cover them to protect from rain. I had to repeat this for 3-4 years but they got weaker each year and now they are gone.
Hi i found cheap tool via ebay a japanese knotweed injector iv used it for about a month and iv had excellent results i highly recommend it , its about £99 bargain as most knotweed companies wanted £2000 to treat. it injects right into the stem saving all my other plants in the garden!
Posts
going slightly off track - we have knotweed where I live, but a MUCH bigger problem with gunnera!! someone introduced it to the island 10 or so years ago and it has spread like wildfire, in other peoples gardens, crofts, roadsides, the local village, it is now working its way up the surround hills. the local management committee have an ongoing plan to irradicate it from public spaces, but on private land it is the owners responsibility. We moved here just over 2 years ago now and the house had been empty for over 2 years so we had PLENTY of gunnera in our garden. By this summer we have irradicated it, almost, I found a small piece the other day. We tackled it with Roundup as per instructions the first year - no effect, the second year much stronger solution and applied it 4 or 5 times during the year. Then when it looked dead dug up the roots which still had signs of life in them and disposed of them safely. I think it helped that here last year was the driest anyone can remember and gunnera don't like the dry!! it will be a long process to get rid of it completely from the island, just like getting rid of the mink was!! Moral of the Story - please, please, please be very careful about what you introduce to the area especially if you live in a rural area where things can go unnoticed until its too late!!
@galesrus - sounds like a nightmare and completely agree with your statement RE introducing new species to an area...
Found this online - by the looks of it, Gunnera is definitely another triffid (see page 5 onwards!).
http://invasivespeciesireland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Gunnera_tinctoria_ISAP.pdf
Hi Alan,
Apologies if my posts are bit blunt - some of the methods to remove knotweed just wont work and they are expensive, plus they have a range of further negative impacts upon the environment... Ill leave ranting anymore about it after this post!
Will address your post and add some further info. Before I start, I agree with you!
“Hi some time ago we were thinking of purchasing a house in Pembrokeshire and in the suryey notweed was found on the land,let me just say that after talking to the surveyer ,the council ,the solicitor i was amazed at the effect Jap Knot can have on the garden AND the surrounding areas,i was warned that it would be my job to get rid of it and if it could be proved that it had spread to anyone elses property i would be to blame and suffer the cost of removal,”
This is very true, to an extent. The law states that you “should not allow Japanese knotweed (JK) to grow in the wild”. What actually constitutes the wild is a difficult point in itself: proving you did spread JK , following purchasing an already infested property is even harder. However, surveyors at present are jumpy (in some cases reasonably so, quite often, not so much!); I saw a guy declined for a mortgage with one stem of JK in his garden and a huge stand at least 5 doors down (more than 75m away). This might sound reasonable, until you realise he was in South Wales: there are quite a lot of places with a little bit of JK and loads just around the corner! This is not a reasonable approach to dealing with JK.
Further, in terms of control, particularly with respect to excavating JK rhizome; even herbicide treated “dead” JK rhizome - please dont do it. It is exceptionally difficult to tell whether it is alive or dead. Incidentally revised figures for JK rhizome regeneration rates suggest that as little as 0.068g (rather than 0.7g) will produce a new plant. Its hard to tell if its all dead - there could be kilos of it... also remember that stems and leaves will produce a new plant - this is not a scare story, there is scientific literature relating to it (please see Google Scholar). Throwing it in domestic waste, even if it looks dead is very risky and could be interpreted as “deliberate” introduction to somewhere else - “wild” (even if its a landfill site!).
“my solicitor gave me a phone number of a specialist in Jap Knot who i spoke to,he explained all the do,s and donts about this plant and how to get rid of it,most people who try the job themselves fail, becouse of other problems as well we decided not to buy,i have the phone number of this specialist if anyone wants to talk to him ,he is a very nice chap and knows exactly what he,s talking about ,if i came across Jap Knot again i would not even try to get rid myself i,d call this man for advise, if anyone wants this phone no Email me and ill send it to you , please dont think im scare mongering ,im not as this weed has caused many a tear for many people”
Absolutely, if you are not confident in herbicide application and dont have the time/inclination to follow it up, dont try ad-hoc interventions etc. If you are based in Pembroke, Im sure this specialist is a good deal. In other circumstances, get at least a few quotes - most companies (particularly smaller ones) will charge a lot, for a short-term service. What you should look at is not only the herbicide type etc., but the number of visits “billed” by the company. Companies that undertake to revisit your property for a number of years within your contract (what youre paying for) are effectively acknowledging that repeat site visits will be required.
However, if you are to going to attempt control, here are some good (and not so good!)
Hi Dan you are quite right about mortgages and JK we were advised that luckily we did not require one but would we would have not got one anyway if we had wanted one,and yes the treatment from this chap was over 2 or 3 years and guaranteed for £500 as i said we didnt buy but but im fully aware of it for the future .
Good luck
do you have to tell the arthorities you have a problem with knot weed and does it contaminiate your garden tools
Contaminate your tools??
-No
Hi currently in the process of trying to buy a ground floor maisonette and the survey showed japenese knotweed 7m on neighbouring boundary.Been waiting for the vendor to get a survey done on it for 4 weeks,then the estate agent confirms that a report has been done,but it will take a week to get it.In the meantime Nationwide mortgage offer is about to expire,as they wont give me a mortgage without a report and 5yr guarantee.The estate agent has also said that the company who did this japenese knotweed survey,have said to him that it's to short to treat and therefore does not require a 5yr guarantee.I am at the end of my tether on this,any adivise or are they lying to me?
Hi i found cheap tool via ebay a japanese knotweed injector iv used it for about a month and iv had excellent results i highly recommend it , its about £99 bargain as most knotweed companies wanted £2000 to treat. it injects right into the stem saving all my other plants in the garden!