If you are considering buying a property, there are lots of things that you will need to consider. Number and size of bedrooms; whether you really like that avocado bathroom suite or not; presence of a good school; etc.

However, you probably won’t be looking at the plants in the property’s garden or even neighbouring properties gardens either, perhaps you should! Japanese knotweed is no respecter of boundaries.
(more…)

It has been announced earlier this week that the Psyllid is to be released into Southern England, later this year. The psyllids are intended to act as a biological control of Japanese knotweed and the hybrid Fallopia x Bohemica. We are mainly supportive of this initiative as Japanese knotweed continues to spread unchecked throughout the British Isles. There is simply no funding or compulsion on landowners to treat their Japanese knotweed problems, so if we do not take more action, we will continue to see knotweed gaining on us. This is not without a cost both financially and for our environment.
(more…)

To release the psyllid or not release the psyllid, that is the question.

The Government will be announcing their decision later this month on this biological control. There are many factors to consider in making this decision, including the robustness of the science underpinning the application to release the psyllid, the level of control that can be expected and the risk to the environment. There is of course a risk to the environment in not releasing it! Japanese knotweed continues to spread and invade our urban and rural areas, most of it is still not undergoing a control programme! The release of the psyllid may go some way to redressing the ecological balance and to reduce the amount of future spread, but will not however eradicate the knotweed.
(more…)