Japanese Knotweed Solutions Growing Concerns

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It's that time of year again when we at Japanese Knotweed Solutions get all excited about putting together our annual seminar. I've learned a lot over the years and continue to find out new things about invasive species every year. I can safely say that dealing with Japanese knotweed has been a learning curve where each time that I think I know it all….something else comes along and shakes me out of my complacent attitude.

Only last week I was chatting to John Bailey from the University of Leicester and he mentioned the clone of Japanese knotweed that is producing fertile seeds in the UK…I nearly dropped my coffee…! Fertile Japanese knotweed has always been the stuff of nightmares… until recently it was thought that all seeds were infertile?

Why are there 'hot spots' of Japanese knotweed growth in certain areas of the UK and why is the spread more limited within certain counties? How are mortgage companies and the RICS tackling these issues and will the presence of Japanese knotweed affect your house sale?

Is it possible to predict where Japanese knotweed will become a problem in the future and where can you now buy this information on line - before you start even looking for your new house?

So this year we will be trying to impart all the little bits of Japanese knotweed facts that we have learned and clearing up some of the more dubious pieces of fiction about our most troublesome of invading species.

We will also be looking at what the new legislative powers are within our local authority structure…? What fines can be levied against private home owners and who will be enforcing these new powers?

We will look at what new laws have been pushed through by our European colleagues and voted through parliament and have come into force in January 2015..? Who will be enforcing these powers and how they can now come onto your land to deal with invasive species…. and charge you for the privilege of doing so!

We have the author of the 'Japanese Knotweed Manual' coming along to speak (Lois Child) as well as Trevor Renals from the Environment Agency who wrote the definitive guide to 'Managing Japanese Knotweed on Development Sites'. We will also be hearing from CABI on how their bio-control release has been coping with the British weather …and whether it will ever provide an answer to our ever growing knotweed problems. We also have Olaf Booy from the Non Native Species Secretariat talking about managing our current problems and ensuring that any new invasive species gets swiftly dealt with before becoming established.

All of the above will be packaged around a Victorian theme highlighting how the majority of our problem plants were introduced by plant collectors of the time who didn't fully understand what they were dealing with.

Lunch will be served whilst a Victorian band serenades us with music guaranteed to help calm those people affected by the stresses of dealing with alien species….

The event will include LUNCH and FREE PARKING, and will be held at MOSI, Manchester on Wednesday 20th May 2015. To book your place for this event, please email suzanne.hardy@sltd.co.uk for a booking form.

For more information visit the Japanese Knowtweed Solutions site here.

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