Japanese Knotweed

This is a picture of Japanese Knotweed (Fallopua japonica) which is growing opposite my house. Every year Mr A uses weed killer on these plants and every year they come back and there are more of them. It is classed as an invasive plant in many countries including the United Kingdom; it was brought here from eastern Asia, Japan, China and Korea. I decided to blip it today to remind me that this pest is alive and well on the other side of the lane although it has not yet crossed the lane into our garden.

Below is an extract, related to the United Kingdom copied from Wikipedia and this and much more information can be found here.

In the UK, it is an offence under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981 to "plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild" any plant listed in Schedule nine, Part II to the Act, which includes Japanese knotweed. By 2010 over £150m was spent annually on Japanese knotweed control,[7] and a decision was taken on 9 March 2010 in the UK to release into the wild a Japanese psyllid insect,Aphalara itadori.[8] Its diet is highly specific to Japanese knotweed and shows good potential for its control.[9][10] It was made illegal to spread Japanese knotweed in the UK by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is also classed as "controlled waste" in Britain under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This requires disposal at licensed landfill sites. The species is also common in Europe.

Victoria is fighting in a judo competition today at High Wycombe, her weight group does not fight until about 1530 hours so tomorrow's blip will give the results although Hillview may blip her later today.