\n The worst affected locations include Kingswood and Lydney.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u00a0Yet despite widespread awareness \u2013 with 77 per cent of UK adults having heard of knotweed according a YouGov survey \u2013 myths and misinformation have also taken hold, causing additional worry for homeowners and buyers.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u00a0To separate fact from fiction, invasive plant experts Environet tackle the ten most common misconceptions about knotweed \u2013 and the truth behind them.\n<\/p>\n
\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can kill knotweed with bleach or petrol<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Household chemicals, petrol or diesel, or treatments purchased from a garden centre or DIY store will rarely be strong enough to kill knotweed\u2019s underground root system. The plant might appear to be dead, but it\u2019s more likely induced into dormancy which means the rhizome remains alive and ready to regrow.\n<\/p>\n \n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Covering knotweed to block sunlight will kill it<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Every plant needs sunlight to survive, but if covered, knotweed rhizome will usually grow laterally in search of sunlight, emerging at the side of a tarpaulin, patio or driveway. Even if it doesn\u2019t appear, the underground parts of the plant are likely to remain alive for many years.\n<\/p>\n \n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Knotweed can push through concrete<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n No, it can\u2019t push directly through concrete. But it can and does exploit weaknesses such as cracks or joins between concrete slabs. It can also push up through patios and asphalt paths and driveways.\n<\/p>\n \n 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s illegal to have Japanese knotweed on your land<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n It\u2019s not illegal and it\u2019s not a notifiable weed, so you don\u2019t have to tell the authorities either. But if you allow it to spread onto a neighbour\u2019s property, or if you\u2019re selling your property and fail to disclose it to a buyer, you leave yourself vulnerable to a legal case.\n<\/p>\n \n 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can\u2019t get a mortgage if you have knotweed<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Today, most mortgage lenders will provide mortgages on affected properties – but only with a professional management plan in place from a reputable firm, accompanied by an insurance-backed guarantee, so they are reassured it\u2019s being properly dealt with.\n<\/p>\n \n 6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If knotweed has been treated, you don\u2019t need to declare it when you sell<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Lots of people are caught out by this. Even if knotweed on your property has been professionally treated and there is no evidence of regrowth, you still need to declare it on the Law Society\u2019s TA6 form when you sell. Failure to do so could result in you being sued for misrepresentation, making you liable not just for the cost of any additional treatment but also any resulting diminution in the value of the property.\n<\/p>\n \n 7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Knotweed can only be treated during summer<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n It\u2019s true that herbicide treatment can only take place during the growing season, typically between May and September, as the leaves absorb the chemicals and draw them down into the roots. However, knotweed can be excavated from the ground at any time of year, including winter, which is a much more immediate and effective method of dealing with it.\n<\/p>\n \n 8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If it\u2019s next door, you can force your neighbour to act<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n The last thing anyone wants to see is a towering forest of knotweed over the garden fence, but legally your neighbour has every right to allow knotweed to grow on their property. Their only obligation to you is to prevent it from spreading across the boundary \u2013 but until it does, there\u2019s nothing you can do apart from politely ask them to deal with it.\n<\/p>\n \n 9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can put knotweed on the compost heap<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n With the exception of brown, brittle canes or fallen leaves, unless you\u2019re a composting guru this is definitely a bad idea. Knotweed can regrow from a piece of rhizome the size of a fingernail, weighing just 5g, and its chances of success will only be helped along by the warm and humid conditions of a compost heap or bin. Get it wrong, and you\u2019ll have a brand new infestation by next spring.\n<\/p>\n \n 10.\u00a0 Knotweed spreads by seed<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n This is true in its native Asia, but all the Japanese knotweed plants in the UK are female, so ovules can\u2019t be fertilised and no viable seeds are produced. Knotweed spread is via vegetative reproduction, meaning a shoot grows from the rhizome of the parent plant and establishes itself as an independent plant.\n<\/p>\n \n Environet Director Emily Grant said, \u201cThere are plenty of unhelpful myths about Japanese knotweed that only add to homeowners\u2019 anxiety. It is the most problematic plant in the country, but it can be managed and, with the right treatment plan in place, eradicated for good.\n<\/p>\n \n ” As we head through autumn, knotweed will start to die back and become harder to spot, but this can be the ideal time to tackle it, ensuring the garden is back to full use during the spring and summer months.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The worst affected locations include Kingswood and Lydney. \u00a0Yet despite widespread awareness \u2013 with 77 per cent of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-484425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115341676030354066","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}