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Japanese Knotweed


swinny
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Hi there,

 

I have been asked to just "cut back" some ever intruding japanese knotweed. nothing fancy just cut it back.

 

I have not seen the garden etc as its som 30odd miles away but am due to look soon.

 

I have never really dealt with knotweed before.

 

What i am asking is, is there any special ppe to wear when doing this? sounds from description from customer like a hedge cutter job, will this need special cleaning etc after use? also would it be best to change clothe's straight away after the job and when home put straight in the wash?

 

I do not want to transport any of the knotweed back with me or off site on either clothes or tools.

 

 

I have done reading and know that it is a controlled waste and should not be removed off site unless be authorised removal people.

 

Not sure how the customer usually disposes of the waste as of yet.

 

Also seen that i need a license to burn it if that was the route to go down, but also it would have to be properly dry to burn..... so would it have to be left covered up?

 

Also is it worth putting some roundup or glyphos on the cut stems

(not injecting just spray)

 

any other help appreciated :)

 

Cheers :thumbup:

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if your going to spray into the cut stems it wants doing in the next week or two, burn the cut material on site (it takes some burning!!!!!) but if you can burn it on top of where you have cut the material off, if your going to cut it and spray into the stems they want leaving about 18" tall.

 

 

If you cut it back and dont treat it, you could find that next year that it has actually spread more.

 

If its not got any mature trees or hedge plants near by you could consider using tordon22k (its very expensive) but I have had 100% kill with one treatment of this then you can cut the dead stems in the spring and they will burn a lot easier (dont use tordon if there are mature trees within 25mtrs of the knotweed)

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Swinny,

Try contacting your local authority (council) they should have an Environmental Scientist/Consultant within there Environmental/Planning team who will be able to advise you.

 

I hope this helps?

 

Just spoke with my missess who has dealt with JK as part of her job - Evironment Agency deals with JK and will provide advise. They have a booklet avialble from there web site giving you an idea on how best to treat it and when.

Cutting back is not advised (unless very controlled i.e. 1 stem at a time & then stem injecting with herbicide) as the plant root system is massive and very SMALL bits of plant can allow the plant to root and grow elsewhere. Which is why it is such a growing problem in the UK.

Treatment is long term - injecting the stem is quicker but still likely to be a couple of years. Spraying the leaves when the plant has large leaves (Aug/ Sept) can take many years ( she has know one place still cropping up after 8yrs of treatment). Or you can spay and dig it up and all the soil in a 5m block round the clump and burry it approx 6m bgl making sure it is wrapped in a liner.

Missess advises - get proper advise or tell your client to - chopping it could easily spread it.....

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I reckon that if you need to ask, you'd best decline the job. Japanese Knotweed has very specific requirements for eradication, and I think the client is guilty of wishful thinking if they think that 'just cutting back' is going to have any effect whatsoever.

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It can regenerate from 1/8th of an inch segments. Disinfect your kit in his garden in the area of the knotweed. Clean your boots in the same way. Do not spread it around the garden, try to burn it in a brazier close by.

 

As I understand it unless you are removing it to kill in your yard you cannot take it anywhere other than to one of those v few asbestos type receiving landfills.

 

If you do remove the cut stems, make sure none falls off on way home and then clean the truck and burn anything that could be knotweed.

 

Your client really has to eradicate it before it starts to come up inside his house! I/ spreading to neighbours, it will grow through concrete (it spreads through its orange centred knobbly roots upto 7 metres from the source). You need to act quick only the root system stays alive after the first frost. It can take several attempts to kill it. BTW the roots apparently can be viable for 20 years! I would leave it at its current size and herbicide, if there is no risk of drift onto anything more worthy. Return in spring and treat the new growths..... If risk of drift we inject. Do not guarantee immediate success. Good luck!

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Spray it when it flowers with glyph @20l/ha. Basic rate of 5l/ha will not be effective and will just burn off the leaves.

 

Cutting Is a very labour intensive process. Cut and cut all through the growing season every 2 weeks at most until no new growth appears.

 

Other than that dig it out. 3m down and 6m all the way round. All soil sent off to special waste disposal sites in covered wagons which are then disinfected.

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