Knotweed

[captain nemo1701]

Couple of years ago my garden started sprouting Himalayan Balsam.
I wondered where the pretty flowers came from, till I looked it up on the net: must have brought it from cycling along the canal.

In my home town Darlington in NE England, there's a lovely walk down by the river Tees. It used to have a gently sloping sandbar than took you down to the waters edge. I played & swam there with my friends in the 70's, fished there with my father etc. I revisited it in 2017...you can't get near the water now for bloody Balsam.

 

[captain nemo1701]

At work, we legally cannot operate on site within 7m of this stuff. It's highly invasive, often have to get our vehicle wheels jet-washed prior to leaving contaminated sites for fear of spreading it.

 

[tyred]

So many of the hedgerows around here seem to have signs saying "Japanese knotweed - do not cut."

 

[PK99]

If caught early, it can be dealt with relatively easily.

Spotted a small patch in the park opposite. Reported to council and local independent councillors, deep injections of military grade glyphosate over two seasons saw it off. No regrowth now for 3 years.

 

[raleighnut]

Evil stuff.

 

[Garry A]

I've been on several volunteer days removing balsam. Total pain in the behind. Outcompetes everything along riversides then dies back in winter leading to higher flood risk. Don't get me started on rhododendron.

 

[irw]

At work, we legally cannot operate on site within 7m of this stuff. It's highly invasive, often have to get our warp nacelles jet-washed prior to leaving contaminated sites for fear of spreading it.

In my head, you work on the Enterprise, so I’ve fixed that for you...!

 

[MontyVeda]

I didn't know what the fuss about Knotweed was until I saw some time-lapse videos like this one ...

Yikes!

Japanese knotweed is so tough that it can grow through roads and concrete.
Terrible stuff to get rid of.

Most plants will destroy concrete and tarmac when left to do their thing. The difference with knotweed is removal companies have a licence to mislead customers and rip them off with extortionate fees.

 

[GetFatty]

Giant Hogweed is the one you want to be really careful of. They've closed off part of a wood near me because of it. The sap is photosensitive and if you get it on your skin, you can end up with severe burns and blisters in sunlight

 

[swee'pea99]

the wildlife liaison officer within your local police force.

The what?

 

[Profpointy]

It's just one of these moral panic things. It's just a weed, and can be killed with glyphosphate just like anything else. If you ignore it such that it starts growing indoors, then there's been some serious neglect, quite apart from a mildly nuisance weed growing where it shouldn't.

As said upthread it's become a bit of a mortgage, survey, treatment scam like dry rot etc, rather than merely a task to be dealt with like fixing a leaky roof or whatever - yes needs doing, but not the threat to Western Civilization that has beennportrayed

 

[fossyant]

Giant Hogweed is the one you want to be really careful of. They've closed off part of a wood near me because of it. The sap is photosensitive and if you get it on your skin, you can end up with severe burns and blisters in sunlight

They've had some of this on the coastal path near my caravan in the last couple of years.

 

[fossyant]

When we bought our house we had a problem with a knotweed of sorts - just double checked and it was bindweed. It took years of continually pulling/digging it out (the house was new and was a field prior to development).

 

[PK99]

It's just one of these moral panic things. It's just a weed, and can be killed with glyphosphate just like anything else. If you ignore it such that it starts growing indoors, then there's been some serious neglect, quite apart from a mildly nuisance weed growing where it shouldn't.

As said upthread it's become a bit of a mortgage, survey, treatment scam like dry rot etc, rather than merely a task to be dealt with like fixing a leaky roof or whatever - yes needs doing, but not the threat to Western Civilization that has beennportrayed

Not quite true.

As I said up-thread, caught early it can be dealt with relatively easily. A major infestation coming from an adjacent property is a whole different ballgame.

Bindweed, I can deal with in a single season with a hand sprayer of glyphosate, a few plastic food bags and a handful of elastic bands.

Knotweed, even in a minor case, needs root injectors and industrial strength glyphosate

 

[Archie_tect]

There was a massive former shunting yard full of it, off the main east coast line, in Newcastle that backs onto housing ... they just ignored it for years and years.... hope they've tackled it by now.