No it's not that we like weed killers at all. The problem is that this bank is on the side of our lane & was making the road dangerous because of reckless drivers who think that they can come up the hill like a bat out of hell in their 4X4's. Don't get me wrong I am not against 4X4 drivers as I have one myself but consider that I drive mine as responsibly as I can.
The problem is that on the road side it needed to go firstly for visibility problems & as we own a portion of the road , the cost would be prohibitive if it started to break up the road. The hazel is a good idea but not unfortuanately in this position as it would cause the same visibility problems.
This bank goes up, across the top & then down into the valley , on the downwards slope is an area of about 70m sq of JKW. All we are doing is keeping it down in a small area. The weedkiller we use is a specific one which only targets broad leaf plants so therefore has minimal effect on grass. Considering that I am only spot treating the odd shoot now I consider the negative effects to be reduced to a minimum.
We did consider digging it out but as the crowns are like tree trunks in consistency & like I said before did not want to de-stabilise the bank we did not think that this was an option. I do know that if you chop at it you can cause it to spread which is an offence under the Countryside Act. All in all we feel that we have tailored our response to our particular problem.Personally I do prefer burning it with the flame gun as it also complies with the disposal rules ie burn it on site but (a) the neighbours complained (b) it was unsightly © it did kill everything else in that particular area. Lucky for you that you only had a small area & you acted quickly ,our small area was approx 20 ft long & 8 feet wide & 6 foot high.
This system may not be ideal but now we have it to a more manageable sized problem, the reason we still spot treat with weedkiller is that because it is systemic & helps to kill the crowns still further. Once a year I go out with an axe & trim the crowns down where they are dead & eventually no treatment will be required. I cannot dig out the spindly shoots as they are coming from the live parts of the crowns & this would cause it to th crowns & JKW to spread. As much as 1cm live matter could cause it to spread.
We do not deal with the otherside of the bank but now maintain the roadside bank by our own volition to keep it neat but still wild , it is not a grass verge.
If anyone of you knows of an organic way other than reducing visibility as the bank must be kept low growing except for a couple of trees. I would be quite willling to encorporate it into our eradication scheme.

This post was last modified: 20-11-2007 08:27 AM by tibbar.

Goats...

Kingfisher

There is a patch of knotweed in my local woodland, it's growing under some large beech trees, where it is well shaded. The owners of the wood (the local Civic Association) have sprayed it and this has reduced the patch considerably, but some still remains, which I keep kicking at every time I see it coming up in the spring/summer, much to the amazement of many of the people who walk through the woodland, who wouldn't know a beech tree from JKW if it fell on them!

I love the idea of goats but unfortunately not practical in my particular circumstance I suppose Rent-a-goat might work. Do goats actually work? I could see them eating their way round the JKW & eating all the nice grass.
As for wild canon's woodland , it's good to see it reducing before it get a real hold. I would recommend trying all methods available. We have a lot of JKW round here & all the council seems to do it chop it down which is what increases the size of the crowns as it then sprouts on the edge a bit more , I think that is what happened in our case.One would think that what Kingfisher said earlier in the post was logical, which was that if JKW lacked chlorophyll it would die. I have found it not to be quite the case as it is so tenacious & the runners are like tree branches that it doesn't seems to affect it much.(my neighbour tried that method) It used to be chinese willow herb that was the main nuisance in our area but now it is JKW which kills all plants in its way.One thing is for certain , you need to keep on top of it.

This post was last modified: 20-11-2007 08:31 AM by tibbar.

Sheep and Goats will keep it down but research suggests it doesn't eradicate it.

However, different walnut species may hold the answer as they have a toxic compound called juglone in them which they release from there roots and fallen leaves - the black walnut in particular is known for its toxicity.[Juglone is toxic to plants such as tomato, apple, and birch and may cause stunting and death to nearby vegetation. Juglone appears to be one of the walnut's primary defence mechanisms against potential competitors for resources (water, nutrients and sunlight), and its effects are felt most strongly inside the tree's "drip line" (the circle around the tree marked by the horizontal distance of its outermost branches). However, even plants at a seemingly great distance outside the drip line can be affected, and juglone can linger in the soil for several years even after a walnut is removed as its roots slowly decompose and release juglone into the soil.

This is an interesting website for Japanese Knot weed

http://www.cabi-bioscience.org/html/japa...liance.htm

Thanks Treetops , I have read the JKW Alliance before . I think it is depressing reading though. It makes you aware of the constant marching forwards of this weed. After reading that I am certain that our methods are the correct ones in this case. It's a pity that more people are not aware of the threat of JKW because it ay not have got such a hold. Our local council does not even uproot I did look up black walnut trees & they grow to 75 foot & do not like frost. Unfortunately it is on an exposed hillside which when temperatures are low gets severe frost.
Next year we are going to start on the bank at the back of our garden where once again it has got a real hold so it is a long term project.

This post was last modified: 23-11-2007 03:46 PM by tibbar.

Here are some Walnut trees that will grow well in the uk.


Broadview originates from British Columbia in Canada. It is one of the best all-round walnut varieties for UK conditions. It is suitable for smaller gardens producing a slow growing, compact, spreading tree. Broadview is very precocious producing quality nuts from a very early age of about three years. It is fairly self fertile. Its flowers are also quite frost hardy.


Buccaneer walnut is a Dutch variety suitable for growing in UK conditions. It produces an fairly vigorous upright tree suitable for larger gardens and avenues. Buccaneer is both self-fertile and precocious producing good quality round nuts from the age of about four years. Cropping is good and the nuts are particularly suitable for pickling.


http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk

This post was last modified: 23-11-2007 04:54 PM by treetops.

So would those varieties suitable for our climate have suitable levels of Juglone to enable us to keep JKW under control or would only the black walnut do this?

There's slightly lower levels of Juglone in these trees but is still present especially in the leaves when they fall to the ground, so its best not to tidy up the leaves.

This post was last modified: 27-11-2007 04:26 PM by treetops.

Thanks, I did a bit of reading & obviously it wasn't on the susceptible plant list as I could find, but I'll give that some thought & maybe incorporate it into our strategy. Skippy quite likes the theory but if we don't he would like one in our woodland garden, which we are hopefully starting next year, although I know a certain little squirrie who would be more pleased.

This post was last modified: 27-11-2007 01:27 PM by tibbar.

I'll throw in my two pence here...where I grew up, walnut groves were quite common. The earth underneath the trees was always bare. At home, we had a mature English walnut, and NOTHING would grow under that tree.

I'd say the juglone works quite well...and it might even help with the JKW.

Kingfisher

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm, I might just buy 2 then 1 for the woodland garden & 1 for the grass bank. Thanks for that Kingfisher.