Do watch out for this nasty invasive plant – Fallopia japonica – which is a large, herbaceous perennial of the family Polygonaceae, native to Eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea.

It is a notifiable weed, like Himalayan Balsam and Ragwort, and it’s up to the property owner to ensure it is removed.  You won’t be able to sell your property if it has knotweed as mortgage brokers won’t grant a mortgage and you can be fined £2,500 if you ignore its presence as this is considered a criminal offence.

The appearance of knotweed changes throughout the year from purple/red stems and pinky-red leaves in Spring to the virulent, growing stems upwards of six feet in Autumn, with cream/white flowers.  Unlikely that you would see anything just now as it will have died back over the winter.  The image here is from the RHS website and here’s a link to this, with more information.

If you do suspect you may have this unwelcome visitor, please do give us a call and we can undertake a free site visit and suggest a plan of treatment to eradicate it properly.  It really isn’t something you would want to try at home yourself!

See our weed control page for details of what else we can help you with…