Knot weed terror

I urge you to read this article guys...

Hertfordshire couple has to demolish £300k home to rid it of Japanese knotweed | Mail Online

 

Absolute Nightmare:(

 

I don`t understand how the build went ahead in the first place, they MUST have known the problem existed.

 

Dai, I saw a tv program a while back stating that they have been fighting Japanese Knotweed at some or other olympic village for nearly 3 years, but have eventually won the battle

there are areas in the UK where japanese knotweed has gone crazy .... it's difficult to get a mortgage if this is weed is found

I have also been reading several posts on another forum where professional landscapers are asking for advice on how to deal with this ... from what I have read, it can be treated with a decent weedkiller, but it has to be injected into the stem and has to be done a few times

also read a post a while back, where they had to bring in earthmoving equipment, remove several feet of soil, and replace with new soil .... the soil with the knotweed had to be taken to a special place to be destroyed .... the cost was several thousand pounds

 

*dim* South east Wales is rife with the stuff, and it is basically left to go where it likes. In Cornwall they have teams who`s only remit is to control the weed. I have had success with spraying knotweed with Glyphosate but it needs to be done at least monthly through the growing season. As you say, it does take about 3 years of sustained treatment to sort the problem

 

Most builders wouldn't know a Japanese Knotweed from a Dawn Redwood Dai, thats where they need someone like me to survey and prepare a botanical report. But they wouldn't do that unless they were forced to.

Most builders wouldn't want to know if there were bats on site either.

 

The builders might not Ziggy, but surely the architect or project manager should as there are regulations governing building on infected land.

 

Dai, it seems to be getting worse, as more and more people from different areas are seeking advice on the forums ...

I have not seen any in the gardens that I work at in Cambridge (yet), but suppose eventually, it will rear it's ugly head here

seems to be getting totally out of hand

if you buy some topsoil that has 1 or 2 root pieces, eventually the whole village gets knotweed ... a few months/years later the whole county has knotweed

guys are trying several methods to eradicate it .... from bruising then sparaying, or injecting .... from what I have read, injecting seems to work best

 

It was obviously there when the place was built, it dont look that old, so surely the builders can be sued.
If they are still trading that is.

I know they say it grows through concrete, but this place looks pretty flimsy to me.

"The couple, who had twins Ethan and Ella eight months ago, have been told that unless the detached house is demolished and 10ft of soil removed from beneath the foundations it will be impossible to sell.

A strange statement, if you demolish it first, I doubt anyone would buy it anyway.:D .
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The land wasn't infected at the time and it sounds like a private build,

So its likely there was no architect or project manager, which means only the builder, planning & building regs were involved.

 

Bruising plants before treating with weedkiller is next to useless. If the material is damaged it cannot absorb the chemical. I don`t know about inject either, Knotweed stems are hollow, so injecting just puts the treatment into the hollow part of the stem. Spraying undamaged leaves ensures the chemical is put into the plants circulation system.

 

I've know of certain clumps of knotweed for the last 40yrs, if left undisturbed it doesn't spread very quickly.

Put a JCB through its root system and move it around and you have done it a favour.

 

Thankfully it doesn`t set seed in this country otherwise we would be in serious trouble.

 

They have been killing off in this area on council land.
They appear to spray twice a season, and in three years its very nearly gone.
Of course I dont know what they are using.

 

National parks were using 10x normal strength glyphosate