Japanese knotweed

Kate who knows why the Brussels beurocrats banned it. They are taking all the fun out of gardening.:D

 

An update on my situation. The +/- 10 plants in my garden I hacked down, filled the stems with a special mix of meths, ivy poison, toilet duck and roundup, the poor plants are not looking very well at all. The stems are drying out on my shed roof.

+/- 100 plants over the wall, well that’s another story. My mate and I were surveying the situation when we were confronted by one of my delightful new neighbours, this lady told us the land was communal and we have no right to touch it, and also added that there is plenty of land in South Africa so why don’t we go back where we came from.

So my wife has called the council, they will not help as it’s private property and suggested we contact the land registry office, it’s a £5 fee to find out who owns the land and when we do, it’s a question of convincing the owners they need to pay to have the Knotweed removed before it’s takes over the whole neighbourhood.

In the meantime I bought a few bottles of that phosphate stuff and am doing stealth spraying missions at night over the fence. It feels like an exercise in futility, it’s a lot of Knotweed. I reckon if I spray all the plants once a week that will be a 3 litre bottle each week.

 

China Diapers. Do you mean glyphosate? A word of encouragement......keep at it you will win in the end. It may be expensive for you, but I think the pleasure you will get from it's destruction will outway the cost for you.

Keep us posted on the outcome. Good luck!

 

Hey Sheal, yes I did indeed mean glyphosphate, my mistake, I gather that the bets stuff to use.

Thanks for the words of encouragement

 

Get some advice from your local enviromental officer. Japanese Knotweed is your local councils problem.

 

That will see off the top growth, but won't do anything to the roots. Best just stick with the Round Up. It gets absorbed right down to the roots, effectively putting the nutrient flow in reverse so the plants starve to death.

Well, if you kept your cool, well done to you. This sort of thing makes my blood boil. Not quite the same thing but I've moved about a bit (within the UK) over the years, and have met the kind of inbred freaks that think unless you were born, grew up and plan to die in the same postcode then you're not welcome. Best just ignore them.

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I believe Japanese Knotweed is one of the very few plants that are classed as a controlled substance. I believe if you have it on your land, you are legally required to prevent it spreading outside your boundary. I could be wrong about that, but if I'm right it means the owner of the land that is apparently the source of the problem has a legal obligation to bring it under control. I could be wrong about that, fortunately for me I have never experienced the problem first hand.

 

Cool thanks for the advice

 

Oh OK. I only came across the Roundup stashed in my shed after I had used all the other stuff. I heard from a neighbour that a family further down the road had successfully eradicated another batch of knotweed using this method with bleach which was my inspiration for this approach, but maybe it's a case of broken telephone.

I can see you obviously know a lot about plants, but they do seem to be on deaths door right now, unless they stage a miraculous comeback, I will let you know

We live and learn.

 

Ha ha, yes I kept my cool, barely.

OK I get the message, will Roundup all over those suckers until I see results, and continue to pursue the landowners too.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Other side of the fence

 

Dear neighbour,

I would like to bring your attention to the area of land at the end of XXXXXX Close, adjoining the rear of my property, XXX XXXXXX Road. As you may be aware, the bamboo-like plants on this land are Japanese Knotweed.

Japanese Knotweed is listed by the Conservation Union as one of the worlds 100 most invasive species, it is extremely resilient and can cause structural damage to property due to it’s extensive root system. The Knotweed has found it’s way into my garden where I am attempting to prevent it spreading, however this will most likely prove futile with the large number of weeds on the other side of the fence.

I have discussed this problem with the council, who have informed me that as the adjoining land is not council property they are unable to take any action. I have also received information from Land Registry and it is not clear who owns the land and is therefore not possible to ascertain who is responsible for the removal of the Knotweed.

As having Knotweed removed professionally is costly, and I would not expect you to contribute if your property is not affected, my only option is to remove the plants myself. The most effective way to accomplish this is to spray the weeds persistently with Glysophate, a systemic herbicide. Glysophate does not bioaccumulate, breaks down rapidly in the environment and accidental exposure by animals to small doses should not be harmful.

I trust that you understand my position, and that you will not have any objections to what I propose. If you would like to discuss the matter please feel free to phone me on XXXXXX XXXXX or email me at [email protected]. If nobody has raised any concerns by August 1st I will begin spraying the area on a weekly basis.

Kind regards

China Diapers

 

I won't tell them I have already been spraying for a week.

 

May I also point out, you need licences to cut, burn or remove Japanese Knotweed? There are all sorts of enviromental regulations involved, this is why I suggest you involve your councils` enviroment officer.

 

Hey bvuddy, thanks fOr the thumbs up.

We have spoekn to the environment peeps at our council, we have an obligation as far the disposal goes but apart from that we can do whatever we want on our property.

The stuff on the comminal property is another story and will be treated with upmost care and affection, don't worry.

The council are not able to help us in any way, trust me, I have exhausted the options.

Apologies for spelling on the bb at the pub but needed to respond to this.