We view ourselves as very commercially minded and we will always come up with the best solution for the client taking their requirements in to consideration along with the constraints of the site. If you have any questions please do get in touch.
On a weekly basis we visit several locations across the UK surveying Japanese Knotweed, also known as Reynoutria Japonica or Fallopia Japonica.
How to Identify Japanese Knotweed
The perennial can easily grow up to 2.4m tall in just a couple of months. Japanese knotweed has large leaves that are the size of the palm of your hand, they are often described as ”heart” or ”shield” shaped. The stems are hollow like bamboo and green in colour with purple speckles. In late summer the plants flower with little white flowers and are a great source of nectar for the bees. If you dig up the rhizomes (roots) and cut them in to two parts you will find that they are orange in colour. By looking at these distinguishing features you are now able to identify Japanese Knotweed. However, if you are still unsure please do send us a picture by clicking here and we will identify the plant for you.
Is Japanese Knotweed Illegal in the UK?
No it is not illegal to grow Japanese knotweed. However, if you allow it to grow across your boundary and into a neighbouring property then legal action can be taken. You could be taken to court and be ordered to pay for the remediation of the Japanese knotweed and other costs.
Additionally, if the Japanese Knotweed is growing within 3m of your boundary then it can effect the sale of your neighbour’s property effecting the value of their property and opening you up to civil litigation.
Although we can’t give you legal advice we can advise on the best course of action as we have done for a clients in the past. For more information contact us today.
How to Kill Japanese Knotweed?
We tend to kill or eradicate Japanese Knotweed in one of two ways; either using chemicals or excavation and removal from site.
The chemicals we use are significantly stronger than those available to the public and are classed as systemic translocating herbicides. This means they are absorbed by the plants and then carried around the plant using their own xylem and phloem vessels. The poison is then carried throughout the plant killing it in its entirety including the rhizomes (roots). The weed killer is applied by spraying the plant and injecting the plant. This treatment has to be done at specific times of the year and the concentration and application rate has to be precise to ensure maximum efficacy.
When excavating Japanese Knotweed, we provide either a full or partial excavation. The full excavation involves digging all of the rhizomes out and can result in a significant hole. For example, we recently excavated a relatively small outbreak of Japanese Knotweed, where we removed 108 tons of contaminated soil from the site. This way of removing Japanese Knotweed is the most effective if the site is to be developed.
The second way is to carry out what we call a “Residential-dig” (resi-dig). This involves us digging down to a maximum of 400mm removing the contaminated soil from site and then monitoring the site thereafter for up to 5 years. The expectation is that the majority of the Japanese knotweed is removed from site but that some weakend Japanese knotweed may be left in the ground. This would be treated chemically as it grew ensuring that by the end of the 5 years the site can be declared free of Japanese knotweed.
We view ourselves as very commercially minded and we will always come up with the best solution for the client taking their requirements in to consideration along with the constraints of the site. If you have any questions please do get in touch.
