Japanese knotweed?
siobhan_jns
Posts: 4
Hi all,
My husband and I have just started renovating an old house with a very over grown garden, full of brambles and weeds up to the waist. We cleared it all and managed to get some turf down, but while we were digging it all up, there was one plant starting to grow which looked woody and hollow, almost like a peony does before it starts sprouting back up in spring. There were lots of actual peonies in the garden where there must have been flowerbeds a long time ago, so we saved it just in case. Unfortunately however, it is definitely not a peony!!
As a few weeks have gone by, it’s shot up very quickly and now that I can see it’s stems, I’m thinking it might be the dreaded knotweed! Please could anyone confirm from the photographs? Your help is greatly appreciated!
My husband and I have just started renovating an old house with a very over grown garden, full of brambles and weeds up to the waist. We cleared it all and managed to get some turf down, but while we were digging it all up, there was one plant starting to grow which looked woody and hollow, almost like a peony does before it starts sprouting back up in spring. There were lots of actual peonies in the garden where there must have been flowerbeds a long time ago, so we saved it just in case. Unfortunately however, it is definitely not a peony!!
As a few weeks have gone by, it’s shot up very quickly and now that I can see it’s stems, I’m thinking it might be the dreaded knotweed! Please could anyone confirm from the photographs? Your help is greatly appreciated! 0
Posts
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading
If it’s only a small area I would dig up any surrounding plants (keep them in pots or find them another temporary home elsewhere in the garden) and then start regular applications of a glyphosate based weedkiller.
You sound like a sensible non-panicky person so you’ll know to apply to the leaves when the plant is growing away strongly. No point cutting it down and spraying the ground. Reapply as new leaves and growth appear. With a bit of luck several applications will kill it unless it’s spreading onto your land from somewhere else....
Our local tree surgeon reckons he cleared a large area in their storage yard of the stuff using glyphosate.
You should be able to buy glyphosate from the internet if you don’t have any to hand. It’s cheaper to buy the concentrate and dilute it yourself
When the lock down is ended you can call in a specialist company if you need to - hopefully you won’t.🙂
Thanks for the advice, I might do that then before calling anyone out, they wouldn’t be able to come out for a few weeks anyway with the current situation, so at least by spraying it I would hopefully stop it from getting any worse. If it goes into my new turf I will be put out!