(B)eat your weeds: Japanese Knotweed
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By Emma Cooper
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Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is an exotic species that was brought to the UK as an ornamental plant. It’s tall and herbaceous, with purple-speckled stems similar to bamboo that can grow up to 3 meters high. The plant flowers late in the season, from August to October, with small and creamy white flowers.
Unfortunately Japanese Knotweed is very invasive, and has become a problem weed in the UK and it is illegal to encourage it to spread. The problem stems from the plant’s ability to re-grow from rhizomes and crowns. Incorrect disposal of Japanese Knotweed just encourages it to grow elsewhere. It has even managed to spread from one side of a road to another – by tunnelling underneath!
If you have Japanese Knotweed in your garden then you’re probably trying to get rid of it. The Environment Agency recommends digging out the crowns by cutting underneath them with an axe or a sharp spade. Plant material can survive composting and so should not be added to the compost heap when fresh. You can try drowning it in a bucket of water, or leaving it out to dry, until you’re sure it’s dead and then composting it. Sending Japanese Knotweed off to landfill isn’t a good idea either, so contact the waste team at your local council and ask them how to dispose of it properly.
Even though it causes significant problems, Japanese Knotweed does have some plus points. For one thing, it’s edible. Young shoots can be stewed in the same way as rhubarb. There’s also some evidence that British wildlife is adapting to the presence of this alien species. Japanese Knotweed has hollow stems – a popular habitat with many kinds of insects. Where insects go, a lot of other wildlife follows, particularly frogs (who eat insects) and grass snakes (who eat frogs!).
So whilst Japanese Knotweed isn’t a plant that you want to encourage into your garden, if it’s already there then you may want to try eating it as one method of controlling it, and if it drives you to despair then remember that the wildlife in your garden appreciate it!
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Author Bio Box: Emma Cooper
Emma Cooper is the author of Growing Vegetables is Fun. She also has a weekly gardening podcast, The Alternative Kitchen Garden, all about growing your own food in an environmentally friendly way. Check out her website for her gardening blog and more articles.
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