knotweed Goddammit!!!!!

Author
Discussion

0099

6 posts

158 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
It is banned now but if you can get your hands on Ammonium Sulphamate (easily done, just not licensed as a weed killer) it is about the best at removing Japanese knotweed.
It will also break down into a fertiliser, so if you are planning on wanting to plant anything there afterwards then it will help that grow. Japanese knotweed is more of a battle than a war, you will need to keep on top of it and reapply about twice a week until it does go away. It also will go for a long way under ground, it is like an ice burg what you see as growth above ground is only a small percentage of what is really there.
As already mentioned it is a controlled substance and the Environment Agency will not be impressed if you try throwing it away!
Good luck I think you will need it. smile

dickymint

24,089 posts

257 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Mate of mine uses this kit along our local river-bank...........

http://www.jkinjectiontools.com/store.php?mode=vie...



On their website they give info on how to do it with an syringe......

"n substitution to the JK injector tool, a simple probe can be used to create a small opening in the stem on either side just below the node. This allows pressurized water to escape while the syringe metered to inject the treatment dose on a downward diagonal through one of the two holes closest to the applicator. The second hole will then allow the pressurized water to escape if the node is full of water. Plants will normally take up the herbicide within 20 minutes of the injection. Plants will be dead within 72hrs, and can be cut and transported with no risk of spreading by fragmentation."

Edited by dickymint on Sunday 29th April 09:18

craigjm

17,907 posts

199 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Caractacus said:
Do not be overly concerned, OP.

You can deal with this yourself, without specialist companies.

Don't chop it and leave any green material about (it only needs 0.75 of a gram to propagate). You can, instead, chop, bag it (black bin bag will do) and then pour the glyphospate down the hollow stems. It may require more than one application, but this method will kill it.

Let the knotweed in the bag die off fully (leave it in there for a few weeks) then chuck it out with the rubbish. Either that, or burn it.

Cheers,

C.
It is classed as controlled waste by the environment agency . It is illegal to throw it out in the rubbish as you only need a very small piece for it to take root elsewhere. If you throw it in the rubbish you are contravening the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and are liable to criminal prosecution and an unlimited fine.

OP ignore anyone who says you can treat it yourself, in theory you can but it needs very careful handling and thorough eradication.

Lordglenmorangie

3,053 posts

204 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
craigjm said:
It is classed as controlled waste by the environment agency . It is illegal to throw it out in the rubbish as you only need a very small piece for it to take root elsewhere. If you throw it in the rubbish you are contravening the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and are liable to criminal prosecution and an unlimited fine.

OP ignore anyone who says you can treat it yourself, in theory you can but it needs very careful handling and thorough eradication.
Does that include advice from a Basis registered professional who has been dealing with industrial and commercial weed control including Japanese Knotweed for over thirty years wink

craigjm

17,907 posts

199 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Lordglenmorangie said:
Does that include advice from a Basis registered professional who has been dealing with industrial and commercial weed control including Japanese Knotweed for over thirty years wink
Not at all. I was referring to people who talk about just chucking it out with the rubbish and the like. The process you talk about is effective he just needs to be mindful of how he disposes of the waste.

blondini

477 posts

177 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
From personal DIY experience use Roundup Pro Biactive(ebay)ensuring thorough spray coverage of all leaf area top and bottom. The poison is taken in throught the leaves so don't chop down just spray. Be vigilant for regrowth as it is very resiliant and can lie dormant for many months.

Just thinking about this a little more, I dealt with a huge patch and spraying was the only practical solution. If it is just what is shown in the photo I would consider DIY injection or chopping down and introducing neat Roundup or some other Glyphosate weedkiller into the hollow open stems. Cover to prevent rainwater dilution and as other have said you should burn any cuttings.

Edited by blondini on Sunday 29th April 11:43


Edited by blondini on Sunday 29th April 13:34

Caractacus

2,604 posts

224 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
craigjm said:
It is classed as controlled waste by the environment agency . It is illegal to throw it out in the rubbish as you only need a very small piece for it to take root elsewhere. If you throw it in the rubbish you are contravening the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and are liable to criminal prosecution and an unlimited fine.

OP ignore anyone who says you can treat it yourself, in theory you can but it needs very careful handling and thorough eradication.
If you read my post I made sure I said after it was dead. I'm sure you know about plant physiology...when all the cells are dead, well, they're dead. smile I also said you can burn it. smile

OP - you CAN treat that tiny plant all by yourself. It is EASY if you are thorough. Hell, we had it on our property when we moved in 2009. We didn't even know about Japanese Knotweed at that point.

We had approx 100 M2 of the stuff. Where is it now? All gone. Dead. All treated on the property with no spread anywhere else as we were careful.

I also know of folk that have had far worse JapKnot situations that have also sorted it, carefully, and successfully.

There's no point in paying thru the nose (or paying at all, for that matter) for a job you can do yourself, with some instructions.

Cheers,

C.

eltawater

3,107 posts

178 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Pop down the road to homebase and pick up some roundup to start with, before getting some stronger stuff from fleabay.

Do not, under any circumstances, start chopping it up as there's a risk you'll just disperse it elsewhere. The dump at the end of the road will not thank you for it, as others have said it's considered fairly serious waste.

Spray the leaves and look at getting it injected with stronger stuff. There are specialist companies in the area who will tackle it for you, but it can take weeks or even months. To be honest, that patch is tiny compared to the forest which grew alongside the red cow pub on dunmow road. We had to get the professionals in for that one!

If it starts to spread, let me know and I'll drop my former director colleagues a line to get the details of the specialist company we employed on the estate.

stanwan

Original Poster:

1,890 posts

225 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Thanks to everyone for the advice so far. Given there are stumps visible I'm pretty sure tehe former owners of the house concealed the knotweed.

My concern is that once the local authority are alerted , my property becomes worthless. Mortgage lenders refuse point. Blank on properties with knotweed apparently...

mav 1

209 posts

246 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
0099 said:
It is banned now but if you can get your hands on Ammonium Sulphamate (easily done, just not licensed as a weed killer) it is about the best at removing Japanese knotweed.
It will also break down into a fertiliser, so if you are planning on wanting to plant anything there afterwards then it will help that grow. Japanese knotweed is more of a battle than a war, you will need to keep on top of it and reapply about twice a week until it does go away. It also will go for a long way under ground, it is like an ice burg what you see as growth above ground is only a small percentage of what is really there.
As already mentioned it is a controlled substance and the Environment Agency will not be impressed if you try throwing it away!
Good luck I think you will need it. smile
I'd agree with the Ammonium Sulphamate. Very effective. But you can't buy it as a herbicide - only a compost accelerator, but it does the same job. We had a Horsetail issue (the next most annoying weed after knotweed), and I accidentally spilled some of this compost accelerator on it repeatedly. Seems to have cleared up now, but does take several applications.

dickymint

24,089 posts

257 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Scary story here...........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-he...

"Experts have advised that demolishing the house and removing the soil will provide a permanent eradication." yikes

The Black Flash

13,735 posts

197 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
dickymint said:
Scary story here...........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-he...

"Experts have advised that demolishing the house and removing the soil will provide a permanent eradication." yikes
So they went straight in with the legal action, but couldn't be bothered to spray it, and now it's a massive problem. Some people think that the world owes them a favour. How dare nature not behave itself!
God helps those who help themselves, as my Gran used to say...

stanwan

Original Poster:

1,890 posts

225 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
For the strongest roundup I could find from the garden store.

Let's see if this ULTRA 3000 does it's stuff

In the meantime I'm going to find some agent orange from google.


Bagged the cuttings into a black bin liner and left in the garage.

Edited by stanwan on Sunday 29th April 16:15

blueg33

35,574 posts

223 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
I have seen knotweed growing upthrough the slab of new houses in Wolverhampton (not mine phew) to the extent that the sitting room was full of 4ft tall plants. My site was next door and I had to install a substantial root barrier.

All knot weed on my site was excavated and buried in a licensed tip, 5 metres down and covered with a clay cap.

Be careful of involving the Council or you may find that your property gets treated as ontaminated land, this then leaves you criminally? liable for any growth of knotweed on nneighbouring land if your land is the source.

You MUST get a specialist to treat it, to make sure it is done properly, the last thing you want is it appearing through the slab in your extension.

Its insidious stuff that I have spent 100,000's ££ on over the years because big sites have to have it done properly with certification.

stanwan

Original Poster:

1,890 posts

225 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
Roundup 450 biactive and a bag of compost accelerator are en route to my professional operative!

dickymint

24,089 posts

257 months

Sunday 29th April 2012
quotequote all
stanwan said:
Roundup 450 biactive and a bag of compost accelerator are en route to my professional operative!
Hope you're paying yourself the going rate. wink

stanwan

Original Poster:

1,890 posts

225 months

Monday 30th April 2012
quotequote all
Where does one obtain sodium chlorate?

Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 30th April 2012
quotequote all
The Black Flash said:
So they went straight in with the legal action, but couldn't be bothered to spray it, and now it's a massive problem.
'Broxbourne Borough Council sent an environmental specialist along who identified Japanese knotweed straight away and advised the couple to contact a solicitor immediately.'


No doubt he sent the Knotweed a stern letter.

Some people really are stupid (Broxbourne BC particuarly, who should have know better as they probably have ground staff who deal with such things)

richyb

4,615 posts

209 months

Monday 30th April 2012
quotequote all
I am a watercourse contractor and as part of that provide invasive species control to local authorities and govt bodies. I also treat it in commercial and domestic settings. For that quantity of stems you are best to get it injected to get it sorted quickly. This is very effective and will kill the plants within two weeks if done properly. I am based in West London so you are a bit far out for me but I wouldn't expect it to be too expensive to get done professionally (£40-70 for a single treatment).

richyb

4,615 posts

209 months

Monday 30th April 2012
quotequote all
Having read through most of the posts I thought I'd add in my experience. I've dealt with around 5-6 hectares of J.Knotweed in the last two years and use a variety of methods.

My take on it all - As has been mentioned knotweed can be effectively dealt with without professional help. It is very resilient but has the same weaknesses and requirements. First thing to know is it is feature on wildlife and countryside act 1981. You can not plant or intentionally allow knotweed to grow. To fall foul of this you need to maliciously contaminate someone elses property. Additional rules surrounding it relate more to contractors or public bodies for example burning it or transporting it. It is classified as hazardous waste and as such you need special exemptions or permissions to do so. As a home owner you can burn the stems.

In regards managing knotweed the best approach is via herbicide. This can be applied either by spray (folia application) or by injection. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Spraying is quick but you risk killing everything else around the target, you need a dray day (around 6 hours dry weather after application is ideal), you cannot spray near a watercourse or open drain. Several applications may be needed. Injecting is very effective and will kill the plant very quickly, it is weatherproof and there is very limited risk to surrounding plants. The disadvantage is that it requires some specialist tools (although a syringe can be cautiously used). The best time of year to treat knotweed is once it has gone to flower in late summer. The plant will put most of its energy into this process then will try to recoup before going into dormancy. Herbicide will be most effective then. A method I have seen used but would strongly advise against is cutting the plant at the base then pouring herbicide down the hole. This gives you a cut stem to get rid of and it does not provide the best situation for the herbicide. Most herbicides are systematic meaning they are trans-located around the entire plant before poisoning it. If you cut the stem the plant will not be functioning normally and reduce the effectiveness of the herbicide.

In regards to potential damage it can be very destructive but only when it is left to really establish. I treated a 300 metre section of river and found that the top three runs of brickwork from that length has all been loosened by the root growth. I have also seen large sections of tarmac car parks broken up by the root growth. Only once have I seen anything unusual in a residential setting and that was when some stems has started to come up between the floorboards in someones lounge.

In the OPs case that does appear to be an existing problem. You can see the old dead stems at the base which would be a year old at least.

As mentioned you can DIY it but there are reliable people out there who can assist and for larger stands it would be worth considering. Feel free to Pm me if I can assist.

EDIT- Something to know is that Knotweed seeds are not viable and the plant will not grow from them. It is only spread via suckering and by bits of the root system breaking off.


Edited by richyb on Monday 30th April 13:06