Road Trip

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Occasionally I think to myself that perhaps the world is taking note and sorting out the Japanese Knotweed problems that we are all over run with….

I have written several articles about the A6 between Buxton and Bakewell, noting the abundant Japanese Knotweed along the road side – and this year it has been treated…HOORAY!

I have written about various patches of Japanese Knotweed in Glossop noting infestations at every major road entering the town – and this year some of it has been treated …. HOORAY!

I have written about a major infestation of Japanese Knotweed in Radcliffe – and offered to treat it free of charge – and this year it has been treated ….HOORAY!

I have noted a huge clump of Knotweed at the end of the M1 as it enters London – this year it has been treated ….HOORAY!

So….it was with great horror that I drove through Oldham and Saddleworth this morning and saw more bloody Japanese Knotweed than I have ever seen in my life…absolutely everywhere….over walls, along rivers, beside railway lines, in gardens, in schools, in playing fields, beside the canal…..aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhh

CAN WE PLEASE GET SOME UNIFORM STRATEGY TOGETHER…. BEFORE I LOSE THE PLOT….

Let’s be clear – this plant is like a contagious disease – unless we all are treated it’s just going to keep coming back….

Mike C

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Eurovision Weed Contest…

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

I obviously had too much to drink again on Saturday night as I ended up watching the Eurovision Song Contest – I know, I know – it was appalling….

It has inspired me to answer a question that often gets asked in presentations: … ‘is Japanese Knotweed a problem in other European Countries?’

Well …it’s not an easy one to answer without using the points system…

If JK gets a whopping ‘dix points’ for being a problem in England then around Europe it would record the following scores:

Ireland 6 points

Scotland 6 points

Germany 2 points

France 2 points

Rest of Europe nil points

However – if you were to include the rest of the world in the question you would see some interesting results – American and Canada have some serious issues (Google – Great Lakes - Japanese Knotweed?) …and we have had enquiries from as far afield as Alaska!

To answer the question ‘why is the problem so acute in England’… would take longer than a blog – and involves many factors…

Mike C

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Nothing is definitely better than something…

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

In most cases you would think doing something to help a problem would be better than doing nothing. However in the case of Japanese Knotweed this is not always the case…

If a poorly trained sprayer with no experience sprays a stand of Japanese Knotweed all that is likely to happen is that the plant will reduce its leaf cover. It won’t be dead, it won’t even be particularly unhappy it will just be MORE difficult to get rid of.

With reduced leaf cover the ‘foliar’ applied herbicides will be difficult to apply – even by experienced operatives. If chemicals cannot be conveniently applied then the options for removal are very limited - and will probably be significantly more expensive….

A recent case highlighted the situation when a private homeowner decided to take the Japanese Knotweed on himself – armed with several hand sprayers from the local B and Q – cost £25 plus a bit of his time spent spraying. The results were a loss of leaf cover and some die back of the knotweed - leaving small deformed stems. The plant was far from dead but looked very unsightly….

The homeowner was trying to sell his house and had received a quotation from Japanese Knotweed Solutions of £1200… but decided that we were too expensive.

The building surveyor recognised the infestation and as part of his recommendations he included a section detailing that the Knotweed must be either eradicated or removed from site. Having failed to do either the homeowner called us back to site to offer practical solutions.

The only option that we could provide for an immediate sale - was excavation and removal of the contaminated waste…at a cost of £38,000…

So…when thinking about doing something about your Japanese Knotweed problem…first think about speaking to Japanese Knotweed Solutions…before you do something you regret.

Mike C

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Peace of mind… In a Porsche

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

I have sold a fantastic car, the best car I have ever had, the quickest car you would ever want…and it was in immaculate condition.

So why have I sold it?

I have sold it because the warranty had run out and I couldn’t get anyone to give a guarantee on the car because of its age and the fact that it had been modified.

I did not feel comfortable driving the car and whenever I put my foot down I was nervous knowing that any problems would be very costly…so it had to go.

So what has this got to do with Japanese Knotweed??

Well…

If you haven’t got an Insurance backed warranty with your current Japanese Knotweed service provider then you haven’t got any peace of mind at all. An ‘in house’ warranty or ‘Professional Indemnity’ policy is not worth the paper it’s written on.

PI cover will cease if the company ceases to trade (no premiums = no cover)

So – if you want a warranty – if you want to know that all potential site problems are covered…then go to the ONLY company with an INSURANCE BACKED WARRANTY… Give us a call 0161 723 2000

Mike C

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STD’s

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

If you think about it…having Japanese Knotweed is like having a Sexually Transmitted Disease…If you have an infestation (infection) you just want to get rid of it as quickly as you can – then you don’t want to advertise that you ever had it!

This was emphasised recently when the BBC asked whether they could shoot on various sites that we had been working on. We asked our clients how they felt about being filmed and none of them wanted the problem to be put on film! In fact half of them denied ever having had Knotweed in the first place…

We have been asked to use un-marked vans and even been asked to pretend we aren’t Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd – ‘…say you are landscape gardeners’… is the favourite.

So if you have a problem with Japanese Knotweed – don’t call the nearest clinic – call JKSL …you can pretend the initials stand for whatever suits…!

Mike C

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It’s the Law…!

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

The UK law relating to Japanese Knotweed is a complex example of the types of legislation and control measures which can be used to help in the management of invasive non-native plants. The main legislative power lies within the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) which states that ‘it is an offence to plant or otherwise cause Japanese Knotweed to grow in the wild.’ In the USA Japanese Knotweed is listed on the National Exotic Pest Plants List and is legally defined as a noxious weed under the Washington State Noxious Weeds List. Currently however, there is no legislation in European countries such as Denmark, Germany, France or Italy.

Japanese Knotweed can cause a variety of problems but it is its ability to spread rapidly which is most likely to bring legal issues in to play. Whilst it is not an offence to have Knotweed on your land, the plant is capable of growing rapidly and can cover upwards of seven metres in all directions per season. If the plant grows from one property into another adjacent piece of land you could be sued under laws relating to Private Nuisance under Common Law.

One of the first cases in the UK to make it to court was Flanagan vs Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council in the Leigh County Court. The case was brought against Wigan Borough Council by a private landowner whose garden was being invaded by Japanese Knotweed from neighbouring Council owned land. The outcome of the case was that the Council were required to comply with an order to treat a one metre strip of Japanese Knotweed growth along the boundary with Glyphosate for a three year period. In a further section of the ruling, the Council were ordered to install a reinforced concrete boundary measuring 0.5m wide x 10m long x 1.3m deep – between the Council-owned land and the private garden to prevent a further invasion.

Much is currently being made in the Press about issue relating to mortgage applications being refused due to presence of Japanese Knotweed. Santander are reputed to have made a statement that ‘if a property has Japanese Knotweed within 30m of a boundary’ then they would not offer a mortgage. Other lenders have followed suit and the market appears resigned to having made a stance against the Japanese Knotweed invasion.

Control of Knotweed is very costly by manual or chemical means with treatment often having to be continued for several years before effective control is achieved. If Japanese Knotweed contaminated soil has to be taken off site and root rhizome excavated then costs can escalate into several figures. A figure quoted for removal of one square metre of surface growth (by the time you have excavated 3m depth and 7m in all directions) would be roughly £30,000. With prices like these being quoted it’s easy to see that knowing the Law is going to be high on any land owners priority to do list.

Mike C

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Can’t get a mortgage if you HAVEN’T got Japanese Knotweed?

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

In the wonderful world of mortgage applications isn’t it great to know that nobody has a clue what they are doing with your application.

I have been in Scotland for the last few days and came across a situation in which the H*****x Building Society (name withheld) would give a mortgage on a property WITH Japanese Knotweed but WOULDN’T lend money on a property with Japanese Knotweed outside of the boundary.

Er… let me get my head round that one.

Actually it’s not as daft as it sounds – and it makes some sense when you think it through…

If you have JK within your boundary – then YOU can do something about it.

If however JK is outside of your property BUT is within growing distance of your curtilage then you have no control over what will be done or whether any action is ever taken.

The lenders need to know that action is being taken to prevent damage to the property on which they are lending – and that their investment is safe

So there is another hurdle for the beleaguered housing market.

Mike C

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Knotweed Man…

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

…Knotweed Man (sung to Spiderman) …he can spot knotweed where no-one can, can he spray – yes he can, can he dig it up and take it to a licensed tip…ok enough.

I recently managed to convince all of my team that I am ‘odd’ by asking the question – ‘can anyone else smell Japanese knotweed (JK) as they drive along…?’

I thought everyone could do it – once you get your nose accustomed to the slightly sweet smell of decay – it becomes easier to find JK on site.

When driving back from a meeting last week I was diverted due to a road traffic accident. The diversion took me along a road I hasn’t driven on before in Runcorn. As I drove along my ‘Knotweed Senses’ began to prickle, the hairs on the back of neck stood up – and sure enough – around the next corner – a huge stand of knotweed…

I met a client on site recently and he told me that the area was free of invasive weeds and that he couldn’t see any signs of Japanese knotweed. However again my senses were on alert….the site was beside a river, it was poorly maintained, there were signs of fly tipping – yet there appeared to be no JK?

I sniffed the air and sure enough I could taste Knotweed – I followed my nose towards a brick wall – climbed a couple of steps and looked beyond the brickwork….and sure enough a stand of knotweed, within the boundary perhaps 50 metres long by 10 metres wide.

It always pays to look everywhere for invasive plants. It also pays to sniff everywhere for knotweed – but only if you have the training!

Mike C

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Mike Clough, Knotweed killer…

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

I attended a conference recently where I was given a huge compliment. The speaker was a highly respected professional from the environment industry (and with no connection to Japanese Knotweed Solutions)….

The Speaker talked about the spread of Japanese Knotweed (JK) over the last twenty years and presented various theories about why there had been a time lag with the spread followed by an exponential growth.

There was a statement that ten years ago the Environment Agency could have eradicated JK and now they have not even got the manpower to manage the spread of the plant.

At the end of his highly informative presentation a member of the audience asked him what the best way to kill Japanese Knotweed was – he answered ‘well the person that has killed the most knotweed in the country is Mike Clough – why don’t we ask him…

Ha – I would have blushed but I’m far too tough.

I then signed autographs – yeah right.

Mike C

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How Many More Have to die….?

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

If you listen really carefully you can hear a plant scream when it’s pulled out of the ground. If you believe that then what must the noise be like as Japanese Knotweed tramples its way through every native species in its way…!

Don’t be mistaken these Invasive Non Native Species (INNS) are killing our native plants just as blatantly as a chemical attack by a miss guided eradication company. Spreading as much as 20 metres in all directions per season (Himalayan balsam) WILL grow to the preclusion of all of our native plants.

Nothing grows under these plants and nothing grows above them – nothing feeds on them and they provide no benefit to their surroundings.

Nature when in balance is a wonderful relationship. Woodland is a complex succession of various grasses, shrubs and trees resulting in a network of interlaced leaves all sharing light and moisture. Grassland and waterside plants have complex relationships which leave the waters edge held together during times of flood.

If you disturb either of these complex relationships then the balance shifts and havoc results.

Woodland habitats disturbed by mass influx of Japanese Knotweed can be exposed to storm damage when over winter high winds damage trees suddenly exposed as the knotweed loses its leaves. River habitats can be ruined when over winter Himalayan balsam dies back exposing bare banks to erosion.

So next time you are out and about – stop and listen for screaming plants – and maybe try and do something to save our British Countryside…!

Mike C

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