In the UK, there are tens of thousands of documented Japanese Knotweed infestations spanning across the nation. Whilst that is a huge number, it is essential to remember that there are not only unreported infestations – but also ones growing more invasive each month.
With a name like Japanese Knotweed, you may wonder how an East Asian weed got to the UK shores and took over in the first place.
UK Arrival
Although named after the land of the rising sun, it is also considered native to both China and Korea. In the UK, whilst it is running rampant, it is an invasive species not native to the land and is extremely harmful to our native species.
However, when it originally arrived on British shores in the early 1880s, it was celebrated as an ornamental plant for residential gardens. German-born botanical scientist Philipp Franz von Sebold discovered the plant growth on the side of a volcano and sent a shipment of the plant specimens to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh in 1854.
From this introduction, it became popular with many residential gardens throughout the UK, adapting to the British climate and spreading into the wild. The first wild growth was found in Maesteg, South Wales in 1886, planted in the country to stabilise loose soil in the coal-mining valleys. In 1981, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, Japanese Knotweed became an officially registered pest species on the UK shores, with it being illegal to allow growth in the wild. Although it can grow on your property – you face considerable fines if you do not control the growth and stop it from reaching the wild.
How to Get Rid of Japanese Knotweed
In Japan, the various ecosystems allow for control of Japanese Knotweed very easily. In the UK, it is a very different story.
On the UK shores, Japanese Knotweed is often able to grow without any competition, gaining the ability to dominate growth quicker and overtaking our country’s local ecosystem. Japanese Knotweed loves the country’s wet weather patterns, which is why it grows at rapid rates. The country’s warmer and wetter spring and summer months caused by climate change have only helped it to flourish much further.
If you have Japanese knotweed growing on your property, you need to contact a licenced specialist in knotweed treatment and removal. With Manchester’s mix of rural and city landscapes, knotweed can cause extensive damage to the area should it be allowed to grow without knotweed treatment plans.
Contact the team at Solutions for Japanese Knotweed today for knotweed surveys, treatment and knotweed removal in Manchester.
