Wealden Times | WT184 | June 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Garden
trying to sell their properties. It is not illegal to grow
Japanese knotweed in a private garden, but it is an
offence to allow it to be grown elsewhere. The problem
is that the rhizomatous roots penetrate for metres under
the soil and can easily spread under boundaries.
Control of Japanese knotweed is very difficult. It is
almost impossible to dig it out, as the roots can go up
to three metres down into the soil. Using a translocated
weedkiller (glyphosate), which would normally kill a
perennial weed straightaway, will weaken the growth of
the knotweed, so that in the year following treatment
new growth will be small. Eventually – after a few years
of spraying, it may be eradicated. The top growth should
be dried out and then burnt, as it must not be included
with household rubbish or put out in garden waste bins.
There are specialist firms that will undertake removal
of Japanese knotweed, but this may prove costly.
There are a few other imported plants that have escaped
from gardens and are now romping around the place –
Rhododendron ponticum, Himalayan balsam and Giant
Hogweed are gaining ground and a species of pondweed
– New Zealand Pygmyweed, is clogging our ponds and
waterways. These species need to be removed as they cause a
threat to native habitats and can seriously affect ecosystems.
If you do have Japanese knotweed or are suffering
from an invasion of another pernicious perennial, then
you have my sympathy. They turn the common garden
weeds into a minor irritation. While you were reading
this, however, out in your garden several of those ordinary
weeds will have released their seeds or crept along a few
more centimetres. Let’s go out – and get weeding.
Contact Jo for gardening courses, border planting and
advice on 01233 861149 jo@hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Choking bindweed
149 wealdentimes.co.uk
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