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Japanese knotweed

Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant that can cause some serious damage to your garden and property if it goes undetected. To make sure that you don't have a Japanese knotweed problem, you should check your garden regularly. Japanese knotweed starts to make its presence known during the spring months, so this is a particularly important time for you to survey your garden.

We have a whole page that will help you identify Japanese Knotweed in your garden, but if you suspect you have Japanese knotweed and find yourself asking "do I have Japanese knotweed?" Here are a few things to look out for! 

Spotting Knotweed in the Garden

When knotweed emerges in the spring, it looks like reddish-purple shoots (the thickness of asparagus). Often, as the stems develop they begin to take on a more dense, hollow appearance like bamboo. As you look along the length of the zig-zag stem you will see the iconic love-heart shaped leaves. During the warmer periods you might even see some pretty little white flowers, but don't be fooled! they're not a pretty garden feature to be enjoyed! You can see close up images of all these knotweed features over on our identification page.

There are a handful of plants that are often mistaken for Japanese knotweed, so this is worth bearing in mind too as you determine whether or not you have Japanese knotweed. 

  • Bindweed
  • Russian Vine
  • Bamboo
  • Broadleaf Dock

All of these are knotweed impersonators, so keep your eyes peeled for these as you survey your garden.

Spotting Knotweed Damage

Knotweed is a quick-growing plant and can grow up to 10cm in a single day during the height of the growing season! It's capable of causing damage to buildings and structures as it targets weak points and forces its way into foundations and up drainpipes. Within a matter of weeks, it can ravage a garden, rip its way through a brick wall or destroy a wooden fence. It usually has a vast network of underground rhizomes that shoot off smaller plants all over your garden, so if you suspect you have knotweed, it's likely it will pop up in more places than one.

What to do if you think you have knotweed?

So, if you think you've spotted this ravenous Japanese plant in your garden, don't hesitate to give us a call! We specialise in identifying, treating and eradicating Japanese knotweed. 

If you think that a neighbour has Japanese knotweed that might encroach on your property and cause damage, then we can also help you through your legal case. We offer a professional expert witness service that will help protect you and your home in the worst-case scenario. 

Request a FREE Survey Now >

 

So, if you are asking "do I have Japanese knotweed", we hope that this blog has helped to make things a little clearer for you and provided you with the information that you need to sort out your potential infestation! 

knotweed sniffer dog

We all know that dogs are capable of some remarkable things, they can lead the blind, aid police officers and provide therapy for sick patients. Well, the talents of the canine don't stop there! Did you know they can also detect Japanese knotweed?

A Start-Up Company in Ireland

Helga Heylen founded her start-up company back in 2018 and has been training dogs to detect Japanese knotweed with incredible accuracy. Heylen claims that one of her sniffer dogs is able to detect the Japanese knotweed rhizomes even if they haven't broken the surface of the soil yet!

Using their powerful noses, the dogs are able to identify the exact location of a developing knotweed problem. Heylen currently has three knotweed detecting dogs working for her, one is a purebred labrador and the others are labrador-beagle crosses. 

These amazing sniffer dogs can really transform the way that Japanese knotweed is detected and treated. Rhizomes as small as a fingernail can be laid dormant under the soil for a number of years before developing into a fully-fledged knotweed nightmare! If dogs can help commercial property developers, home and business owners to quickly find and treat the problem, it could prevent a huge amount of structural damage later down the line. 

How Do These Dogs Work?

Unlike humans, dogs don't need to be able to see the knotweed to know it's there! They have a keen sense of smell that can identify rhizomes several metres under the ground. They can quickly move through over-grown terrain and don't need bright lights to work. This means they can quickly survey abandoned areas of land that humans simply couldn't access on foot. 

Doggy Danger

While these dogs might sound like miracle workers to those of you with a knotweed problem, there are some people who do not feel so positively about them. While working in Belgium, one of Heylen's dogs was given poisoned food after it detected knotweed at the site of an upcoming commercial development. The discovery of the knotweed by the talented pooch delayed the development project, which was a source of frustration for investors. 

Since then, security for the dogs has been tightened to make sure nothing like this happens again. They sleep under security cameras and are kept indoors near to the handlers. Hopefully, they can continue to carry out their work unharmed from now on! Heylen said: "You know it's a good thing when it excites like-minded people, which is certainly the majority and really scares others".

If you think you could have a Japanese knotweed problem on your hands, we can't provide sniffer dogs, but we can provide a FREE expert survey and Japanese knotweed treatment plan.

 Request a FREE Survey >

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