Driveway Blogger » Gardening

Japanese Knotweed, Part 2

Larry — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:31:59 +0000

Lifehacker writes of an article by the Nature Conservancy on invasive plants and how to fight them. The article isn’t really that helpful; its suggestions for combating the spread of invasives include replacing invasives with “non-invasive alternatives” (Hmm, maybe native plants? But, first gotta remove the little devils, and how to do that?); volunteering at your local park to help remove invasives (you are welcome to come volunteer at the small park in my backyard, thanks in advance); and, best of all, donating to the Nature Conservancy!

I suppose my chosen method of ripping the beasts out root and all and applying a good dose of glyphosate (just follow the directions on the label) is a little too aggressive.

Japanese Knotweed

Larry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:42:38 +0000

Bird Dog at Maggie’s Farm reports on the invasive plant Porcelainberry and its rampage throughout the northeast U.S. I’ve been battling an equally notorious invasive, Japanese Knotweed, since we moved in four years ago. It can grow to over 10 feet in height and is found in the eastern U.S. along with a few midwestern and western states.

I have been slowly getting rid of a big patch in my backyard through pulling, mulching (with both newspaper and shredded hardwood), and, yes, good old chemicals. Roundup seems to work well; one group in the UK, where it is illegal to grow the plant in the wild, advocates “injecting glyphosate into hollow stems immediately after cutting”.