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Gardening

Japanese knotweed

(9 Posts)
loopyloo Mon 27-Jan-20 16:54:50

Has anyone experience of dealing with this themselves? I have just seen a few shoots in some land I am clearing.

midgey Mon 27-Jan-20 18:45:03

www.knotweedhelp.com/japanese-knotweed-law-legal-advice-guidelines/

Oh dear, have only ever heard horror stories! Best of luck to you.

Daisymae Mon 27-Jan-20 18:47:50

You can't dispose of it with normal waste. Best dealt with by professionals as digging might make it worse, then you will have to get rid of it.

paddyanne Mon 27-Jan-20 18:50:26

Better get the professionals in,we lost our dream house because there was knotweed nearby and the mortgage people wouldn't lend on it.I've avoided it like the plague for decades since

Missfoodlove Mon 27-Jan-20 18:52:27

Whatever you do do not cut it back.
The plant needs to be growing and producing leaves for the poisons to be effective
As a previous poster said you have to have it dealt with professionally unless you’re lucky enough to have a friend with the relevant license to obtain the necessary chemicals.

loopyloo Tue 28-Jan-20 13:48:00

Many thanks for the answers. Confirms my suspicions. My first instinct was to spray it immediately but now I am going to let it grow and photo it. Also get quotes for dealing with it.

jusnoneed Tue 28-Jan-20 14:53:38

www.gov.uk has information on what you can/cannot do to get rid of it. Search Prevent Japanese knotweed from spreading.

Good luck as it's not easy by the look of it.

boat Tue 28-Jan-20 16:21:00

Over 40 years ago we identified some in our back garden. At the time you were advised to use a particular weed killer. It didn't work.

We gently dug a quite wide pit extending below the roots. We retained any plant parts that got separated from the main body.

Finally we lit a bonfire in the pit and burnt all the plant parts. We kept it burning for several hours.

There was no further problem.

I did follow the link that was up thread but the site wasn't particularly user friendly so I don't know if this is forbidden.

Also there were only seven or eight plants and no overhead foliage but it certainly beats putting all those poisons into the environment and paying out pounds for an expert.

TrendyNannie6 Wed 05-Feb-20 14:13:33

I’ve never seen this, so maybe I should google