Herbicide treatment of Japanese Knotweed?
Question:I have discovered a small amount of Japanese Knotweed in an area of woodland on my land (someone has been dumping stuff in from the road). Want to eradicate it before it spreads and as there is only a small amount I think I will try and treat it with herbicide. Which brand, readily available in the UK, is the best/most effective against knotweed?
Answers:
Japanese Knotweed is the most invasive weed, and the most difficult to eradicate, as the roots go many feet underground.
I was watching a program on TV, where a developerr, has to clear acreages of the stuff, it has taken years to develope a method to rid the invaders, the developer has inlisted specialist, who will be injecting the stems of the weed, this is to ensure that the solution goes all the way to the root.
hope this has been of some help to you.
I once called the Royal Horticultural Society to ask how to get rid of Japanese Knotweed. They recommended spraying the leaves with a herbicide called Tumbleweed, just when they are at their most vigorous (so maybe this month?)
They said nothing was guaranteed to get rid of it, but this was your best chance. Digging it up is difficult because every tiny fragment you leave can turn into a new plant.
We didn't take their advice though. We've got it more or less undercontrol by a combination of digging it up and breaking off the growing shoot of every new plant that appears.
Herbicides should be used only as a last resort. These chemicals will certainly kill the knotweed, but alas will also affect your environment in other ways - getting into the soil surrounding where it is sprayed, possibly killing other woodland plants, perhaps even getting into the ground water. Then what do you do with the herbicide left over in the bottle?
The best way to eliminate knotweed is to pull it up, bag it, and dispose of it in the trash. It is important to pull it up before it flowers and sets seed. By continually pulling it up the remaining roots will become stressed then eventually die. Happy weeding!!
This weed is nearly impossible to eradicate. Your best bet is to call in a specialised contractor to carry out the work. They have access to several chemicals not available to DIY users. If you type in Japanese Knot Weed into Google you will find the web sites for several companies. It will need one treatment early May as it starts to come up, one mid summer and another in the autumn. If this plant is coming into your property from adjacent land get your Council to serve them notice under the Pernicious Weeds Act (England and Wales only).
I'm not in the UK, I'm in Canada, but I have Japanese Knotweed in my backyard (I just found out the name of this terrible plant recently). The years before, it had grown into a huge thicket in one corner, which my dad razed and dug up as much as he could. He then spread some kind of herbicide over the area, which is now affecting any other plants that I want to grow there, so now I regret the decision to use poison.
We placed a shed over there now, but the knotweed still tries to grow back. It's poisoned, so it starts to twist and coil as it grows, but it's still trying. What I plan to do is to dig up any knotweed I see around the shed, then lay down some weed block fabric and cover the area with river rocks. But if it's in the ground, it will still try to find a way. I think diligence is the best way to control it.
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