South Wales, UK - Japanese Knotweed Hotspots in Wales

Japanese knotweed, sometimes known as Bamboo & Peashooters is one of the most invasive plants in the UK and can spread quickly from a tiny crown or rhizome. It is a perennial weed that will grow and spread quickly if not controlled, suppressing the plants growing around it.

The shoots die off above the ground in winter and then re-emerge above ground again at the end of spring, early summer. Any established shoots can grow more than 9ft high and can colonise the soil within a few years.

There are some articles that say you can eliminate the roots of Japanese Knotweed with chemicals, however, you do need an NPTC qualified person to work with any chemicals and this is as a result of new legislation which covers the management and removal of Japanese Knotweed. It is an extremely hard and intricate process to control and remove knotweed and in most cases, it isn’t successful unless you use a Knotweed expert. In the peak of its growing season, 60% of the Knotweed is roots underground, making removal incredibly difficult, as well as risky due to one tiny fragment of crown or rhizome which can make it spread quickly underground.

Because Japanese Knotweed spreads easily and quickly there are lots of hotspots around the UK. In this article, we are focusing on Knotweed Hotspots in Wales as well as some News stories.

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The garden turned into a ‘jungle’ by out-of-control 6ft high Japanese Knotweed News Story Reported by Wales Online on 8th August 2018

The grandmother living there said she had even had to hack a path through so she could get to her washing line

A grandmother’s garden has been taken over by ‘6ft tall’ Japanese knotweed.

Geraldine Jones, from Tanycoed Road, Clydach, claims her grandchildren can’t play in the garden of her council house and that she sometimes has to cut parts of it back just to be able to hang her clothes out to dry.

Swansea Council has said it is tackling the issue, but in the meantime, the 60-year-old, who has lived in the property for 20 years, said the weed had ‘grown out of proportion’.

“It is putting me under a tremendous amount of stress,” Miss Jones said.

“It’s terrible – it’s all overgrown and it’s come through the fence. It’s taken root in the garden.

“It’s grown out of proportion. My garden is like a jungle.”

The fast-growing weed has become such an issue in Miss Jones’ garden as she claims it reaches 6ft tall in some spots.

Responding to this, a Swansea Council spokesman said: “Japanese knotweed is notoriously difficult to eradicate.

“We treat knotweed with herbicides to attack it at its roots because it is the best way to manage the problem.

“This involves two treatments with herbicides.

“We have visited the property to treat the knotweed with herbicide once.

“We will be visiting it again shortly to carry out a further round of treatment. The dead stems will then be dealt with during the winter (non-growing) months.

About South Wales Knotweed Services

We cover the whole of South Wales, West Wales up to North Ceredigion & Powys and throughout South Glamorgan & Gwent. In addition, we carry out contracts in the West Country, as far North as Shropshire and into the Midlands & Birmingham areas.

You can read our full article here: southwalesknotweedremoval.co.uk/knotweed-hotspots-in-wales/