Japanese Knotweed

[turner89]

Hi all

A bit worried about this on the front of our property and wondering whether it's Japanese knotweed.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Old Salt]

Copied from a commercial website

How to identify Japanese knotweed in Spring​

Like many species of weed, the Knotweed is very active during the spring months. This is a good time to watch for signs of Knotweed growth in your garden or business premises.
New growth appears as rapidly growing soft red/purple shoots reminiscent of asparagus spears. The stems are hollow and bamboolike and can grow up to 10cm per day. This new growth forms dense thickets, known as stands. The leaves grow on alternate sides of the stem producing a zig-zag pattern in the stem.
Japanese knotweed canes grow to around 3 to 3.5m tall. It will often form as a semi-dense stand of upright stems, with lush green foliage in the form of shovel shaped leaves up to 200mm long.
Still unsure? Use our free identification service. Send us a few pictures of the plant that concerns you: [email protected]

 

[Loofah]

Hard to tell this early. Could be, could also be peony or a number of other plants

 

[mattylad]

Napalm the garden now - before it's too late

 

[DiyNutJob]

Dig and remove the plant whole for inspection and identification.

 

[big-all]

havent got a clue but make sure you fully mark every single point accurately where you remove a stem in case its important for eradication

 

[Koolpc]

Looks like it could be but you will soon know once the leaves open up. I wouldnt do anything until that happens.

As above, it could be Peoni as that looks almost the same.

Is the house a 'new build?'

 

[Odds]

Hard to tell this early. Could be, could also be peony or a number of other plants

I doubt a peony will show its face this early - if the OP is unsure he can easily scratch the surface of soil away to see if a corm is present.

 

[turner89]

Thanks all.

I had someone local do a free inspection. Essentially he said to wait a little longer to see what follows.

I'd manage to get a small bit of the root away which was white in the centre. The guy said that if it was knotweed then that should have been bright orange. So I guess it's just a waiting game for now. Fingers crossed.

 

[Odds]

The longer you wait, the longer grows the root.

 

[Loofah]

I doubt a peony will show its face this early - if the OP is unsure he can easily scratch the surface of soil away to see if a corm is present.

Mine are showing already. Fingers crossed it's not knotweed!

 

[Koolpc]

Peoni does show this time of the year as mine are sprouting up now. It does look like the pic in OP's first post...fingers crossed

 

[JohnD]

My peonies are up, deep red stems similar to the pic.

The OP photo is fuzzy

Take some more

Preferably showing some leaf.

 

[turner89]

This was taken this morning. Slightly better quality.

 

[Odds]

Seriously, just scratch away a little bit of topsoil and you'll see a corm if peony, a root if knotweed.