Knotweed Eradication
Client: Undisclosed
Location: Gloucestershire
Service: Habitat Restoration
Project Outline:
This site had multiple pockets of established Japanese Knotweed spread over 50 hectares which needed to be treated before development could start.
Japanese Knotweed management at a mixed-use site in Gloucestershire
This site had multiple pockets of established Japanese Knotweed spread over 50 hectares in a range of situations from wooded areas, embankments, footpaths and residential boundaries. Before development could start, each area needed to be treated.
Benefits to the client:
JPR were able to use both in-situ herbicide applications along with excavation and relocation to treat the Knotweed. The fact that the contaminated soil did not need to be removed from site minimised the costs of soil translocation and disposal.
Treatment of the Knotweed:
The scale of the project called for a Japanese Knotweed Management plan – ensuring thorough and strategic management of the site. Due to the site specific variations, no single method was suitable for all areas of infestation. JPR implemented methods that would otherwise be unsuitable in smaller areas such as excavating the contaminated spoil onto a membrane-lined area and treating any new growth that emerged. This approach proved to be extremely successful and efficient in dealing with the contamination.
Other methods included spot spraying the sporadic growth of small stands across the site which made it possible to monitor for any new stands that developed over time. Different herbicides were used depending on where the Knotweed was located and what the future plans for that area of land were.
For example, one area had an active population of badgers in a woodland situation which meant that only certain chemicals would be suitable.
Results:
Over a number of years, the ongoing treatment has seen the eradication of some stands of Knotweed. Twenty areas of identified Knotweed have been reduced to just 5 in which the stands are in their final stages of eradication. We can provide eradication services and ongoing management plans for Japanese Knotweed and other invasive non-native species. We work on both commercial and domestic sites to control and eradicate Japanese Knotweed and other invasive species.
