japanese knotweed
I have a new home with garden, coming up to two years. When I moved in I noticed some spears of JK , about six, and quickly checked internet advice. I carefully cut and burned the shoots, and also tried root killer. Last year about another 5 came up and I simply cut and burned them. Just now I am seeing another 2 or 3 shoots. This is all in an area of about a square metre. It looks as though the cement extension on next door's property is built over the stuff, as it is happening against the boundary wall. Thing is it is of course growing in just the place I want to dig over and plant climbers against an ugly wall. I risked planting a clematis about 2 metres further up, but am worried to disturb the root system underneath, so everything is in pots. Am I being over concerned with such a small outbreak? It's a small London garden and I can keep an eye all the time and cut, so am I being over cautious? I really want to get some of my roses into the ground!
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In the meantime do not plant anything you treasure.
I believe some councils will also help with dealing with this weed - might be worth checking.
Thank you both. I did check method on the internet but there is quite a debate, some people are saying the weed killer doesn't eradicate either. I did use it the first year. For large areas people are getting diggers in which take metres depth of top soil, in the hope to get all the roots! Will try council, but a bit worried that going public will affect my house value if I decide to sell in the future, although I realise that's a bit pathetic of me.
Not really, it would put me off buying a property
Good luck to you !
We killed a small patch on a pembrokeshire bank by the road side (which we had spotted on a walk) by painting the leaves with glyphosate gel. It gradually weakened and seemed to have gone by the third year. I'll go and check later though. Unfortunately it is running wild in various places near here.
I've read that cutting the hollow stems about 6" from the ground and pouring in undliluted Roundup, or Glyphosate is the best method,
However as this is not " following the manufacturers' instructions" it's frowned upon to say the least
it has hollow stems like bamboo, I used to do JK control for a local council, get stump killer weed killer, cut the stem below a node (leaving a nice little receptacle for the weed killer) half fill the node and block with a little mud (stops any wildlife getting in)
I did a treatment in early June and another in mid September on any regrowth. it took three years to almost get rid of a patch in woodland the size of a tennis court and even then it popped up for the next two years in the odd patch.
just remember that JK is classed as a noxious weed and cannot be binned. it can also effect the value of your house - or even make it unmortgageable!!
I have suffered this problem in the past - there is only one remedy : move house!
Thank you all, it really has always only been max 6 stems, at the moment only 3. Coincidentally a campaign popped up in my email yesterday, demanding that glyphosate use be made illegal as it has cancer connection. But I did use it the first year and I think I will use it this year. Does glyphosate actually kill the root? I understand that the root system can go very deep and wide which is why I don't want to dig into the area and plant stuff. Treehugger, by stump killer weed killer, do you mean glyphosate? Thanks
It will show up on a search if you go the public route as the council will map it but that search is usually only carried out automatically if your buying farmland or if you ask for and pay for it.
Whatever you do dont try to dig it up you'll make it worse.. try to inject the weedkiller/rootkiller directly into the plant when its green shoots appear and in the autumn - you may have to do this for a cpl of years