Japanese Knotweed invading our land

By now you have probably heard of Japanese Knotweed and you may have even come into contact with this plant. It is a non indigenous plant here in the UK and it is creating headaches for property developers and builders as well as those with domestic gardens. If you have this plant on your land, it is important to ensure that you contact a professional such as Land Remediation Services company ash remediation to come and deal with it on your behalf.

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Here are some facts about the plant that will help to highlight why it can not be dealt with just like any other weeds in your garden.

• In its natural environment Japanese Knotweed has other plants and animals to contend with that help to keep it under control. One of the reasons why it is such a problem here in the UK is that none of these natural inhibitors exist in our country. This is one of the reasons why in some areas the plant has become completely out of control.
• It grows incredibly quickly and is very strong. Not only can it grow up to 10 centimetres per day during the summer months but it has no trouble growing up through your tarmac and concrete. Once the roots have found a weak spot they will break through this and will then rise to the surface and continue to flourish. It can therefore have a detrimental effect on the price of your property and some mortgage companies and house insurance companies will not cover a property or land that has knotweed on it.
• Japanese Knotweed is not a new plant to the UK, although it is only relatively recently that is has become a large scale problem in some areas. It was in fact brought in and used by the Victorians. They favoured it as a plant to line railway tracks throughout the country due to its fast growing ability. Little did they know it would become so problematic in the future.

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• It can take an incredibly long time to get the plant under control on a site and it reportedly took 4 years to control the Japanese Knotweed on the main arenas used in the 2012 London Olympics. It is for this reason that is listed amongst the top 100 invasive species of plant in the world and the disposal of the plant is under the regulations of control waste.