Natural Enemies to be introduced to halt spread of Japanese Knotweed

Hold on, hold on; lets just think about this!

Latest news report issued by the BBC suggests that ‘Predators could be superweed fix’ (BBC News Science and Environment 13^th October) highlighting the potential release of natural predators from Japan to control the spread of Japanese Knotweed.

Hang on though…do they kill Japanese Knotweed? - NO
Do they defoliate Japanese Knotweed (remove the leaves of the plant) - YES
What’s the best way to kill Japanese Knotweed - foliar applied herbicides - so if the plant hasn’t got any leaves how are you going to kill it!!!!

The answer is - you cant!

Therefore… if you are trying to develop land your only option would be to physically remove the plant by excavation. And thanks to Gordon Brown having removed Landfill Tax exemption - your current estimated cost for 1 square metre of Japanese Knotweed surface growth (by the time you have removed its roots which extend 7 metres beyond surface growth and 2/3 metres deep) is £50,000.

Hmmm maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all!

Do you believe that the scientists have got this one right? Would you want to pay £50,000 per square metre?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Japanese Knotweed Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Natural Enemies to be introduced to halt spread of Japanese Knotweed”

1. Alex Grimmer Says:

   December 9th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

   I have two words to say in regards to this ‘Cane Toad’. Can’t we ever learn from our mistakes.

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