Brambles, Bindweed and Japanese Knotweed - Oh My!

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CordlessJoe

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My garden has now been taken over with brambles, bindweed and japanese knotweed and i have enough of seeing slowly being devoured with none of teh plants ive grown for years gone. As its coming from three sides - neighbours and an allotment i feel like im on a losing battle. :cry:

so i got a few garden guys out - but i find it all confusing - im having decking to one section with the rest concreted. they have all mentioned the weed membrane - but some say they will still come through eventually and others say not. on the concrete part i know they will have to clear the site a bit but what is the norm for the thickness of concrete - is there a particular cm that it should be - right at the end of the garden i will have a shed also. i just want to make sure they are all telling me teh correct thing even if they are saying different cms as i dont want to find in a years time that the concrete was too thin and the weeds get through - one did mention some kind of pvc thing but im not sure if he is talking about the membrane or something else which might be thicker. i know that it might not completely eradicate all the weeds and i suspect they might come at the sides of my fence which will be easier for me to measure. Also another suggested having it returfed over the pve or membrane - but i just thought that eventually the new turf will only be what ive got now. i just want a garden that is relatively low maintenance as ive decided that planters might be the way to go for me now. :)
 
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repeated applications of Glyphosate will kill almost anything

But there is a brushwood killer called "SBK" which is better for larger pernicious plants. Read the instructions as there are some which need it mixed with paraffin. It does not kill grass or related plants but any overspray will kill or distort other plants, especially tomatoes. You can put it on weeds coming through turf.

I think you wil have to annually treat under your decking with weedkiller to keep them back.

There are things like "Pathclear" which prevent growth of new weeds by preventing seeds germinating, I don't know if they are any good on suckers.

Start applying weedkiller now and do it again if there is regrowth., You want to kill as much as you can before it is prepared for the decking and concrete. Glyphosate will kill the roots which is what you want. Digging over can break up roots and cause them to sprout up, if not previously killed.
 
thanks for that - i think the stuff i used to use roundup didnt hit the spot or perhaps with the amounts of weeds it wasn't strong enough. think im going to go with the concrete now as it will be lower maintenance than the turf i feel over time.
 
systemic weedkillers can take several weeks to kill the whole plant.

Roundup is Glyphosate with a brand name. It will kill all parts of the plant including the roots. Check if you applied the correct amount. It is absorbed through the leaves (not through the soil).

Give it a good spraying while the weather is still warm.
 
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controlled waste, not hazardous waste.

just to prevent you fly-tipping it or it going on a landfill tip
 
so i guess ill leave the spraying alone - its going to go in a skip - so i think i best check to see what their policy is - cant see it being a problem though - i just wish i cant see it when i open my back door but as it comes from the allotments theres not much i can do! :(
 
I still think you should spray it with Glyphosate - the sooner the better.

The more you kill it before starting work the less regrowth problem you will have.

No reason why your spray shouldn't accidentaly go over the gence either (as long as it only falls on weeds)
 
CordlessJoe said:
... its going to go in a skip - so i think i best check to see what their policy is - cant see it being a problem though...(
Click to expand...

They might be able to take it, but they need to know up front as it's illegal to allow Japanese Knotweed to be spread to other land. If it goes to landfill it must be buried very deeply to eliminate it and some tips may not accept it. Most of the Japanese Knotweed that you see growing in the UK HAS BEEN SPREAD BY CARELESS TIPPING. It doesn't produce seed as all the plants here are female, but chuck a few fragments on a bit of land and it will take off and take over. Once established, the root system goes very deep and is very strong. To say it is hard to kill would be an understatement.

JohnD gives good advice. I would give it a good dose of Glyphosate now whilst there is plenty of foliage to absorb it and I would spray the undersides of the leaves as well.
Then after it has died off and if you don't intend growing anything, a good dose of Sodium Chlorate will poison the soil and help stop anything growing back.
 
Strimm the hell out of your garden, clear the lot. Then:

Glyphosate the roots and stumps that are left, keep kids and cats out of the garden,

return about 1-2 weeks later and use a tiller to toss the dead roots up.

I would then recommend Glyphosate over all the turnover soil (just in case).

Then week later, rake to a level and then put either PVC or weed blanlet over the whole lot, if you can afford it, double layer it.

Thats your base to start cementing/decking or re-soiling.
 
John - "controlled waste, not hazardous waste" but my reading of the Defra Guidance suggests it can be both ...

"Any Japanese knotweed contaminated soil or plant material that you intend to dispose of is likely to be classified as 'controlled waste' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Untreated knotweed is not regarded as a 'hazardous waste' under the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 but material containing knotweed that has been treated with certain herbicides could be."

????
 
that's the chemicals that might be hazardous, not the plant.
 
Thanks all. problem is i cant really do much until my garden is clear of old household rubbish :oops: but one of the guys came back and has put a sodium chlorate thing to spray my garden with which looks powerful enough. I can probably use the glyco one on teh bits i can get to. as he has to clear the groung i guess he will spray the ground get whats left of the plants that way.
 
D

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