Invasive Weed Management
Our Service
Invasive Weed Management
Is invasive weed growth posing a problem in your garden or commercial space? Elm Landscaping and Tree Surgery Services specialises in invasive weed management including the control and removal of Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed, Ragworth, Buddleia davidii and Marestail.
Depending on the circumstances and growth rate, we can control, eradicate, dispose of or monitor various invasive weeds on amenity, industrial, commercial and residential sites.
Weed Control Services
We design and implement invasive weed management solutions specific to each individual site and follow this up with remediation works from site clearance to new landscaping schemes.
Our team of NPTC certified staff can carry out a range of treatment options specific to your site including:
- Complete excavation and disposal offsite to a licenced landfill
- Chemical control by herbicide application
- Burial on site and capping at a safe depth (5m)
- Stem injection
Japanese Knotweed
What Is Japanese Knotweed?
Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is a strong growing, clump forming perennial with tall dense annual stems. In Winter, the plant dies back beneath ground. Stem growth is renewed each year from the stout deeply penetrating rhizomes (creeping underground stems) and by early Summer the bamboo like stems shoot to over 7ft suppressing all other growth.
How Do You Recognise It?
The stem structures are distinctive with a green hollow bamboo like appearance and dotted with dark blue purple speckles. Leaves are oval with a pointed tip and have a distinctive zig-zag growth pattern on the stem.
The off-coloured flowers are small and clustered and hang from the joint of the stem and the leaf. They are wood like in their appearance. If snapped, they show a bright orange colour inside and have a consistency similar to that of a carrot. New rhizome growth is white in appearance and can be delicate. These root structures can extend up to 7m in a lateral direction and 2m deep from the over ground plant.
The Problem
Japanese Knotweed can seriously damage buildings, hard surfaces and infrastructure causing extensive damage to roads, paving, driveways and building foundations.
Giant Hogweed
What Is Giant Hogweed?
Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is highly invasive, and the sap can cause severe skin burns. It can reach over 3 metres, is widely distributed in the wild and poses a serious risk to people who are unaware of its potential for harm.
How Do You Recognise It?
It is a tall cow parsley-like plant with thick bristly stems that are often purple blotched. The flowers are white in flat topped clusters. The flower heads can be as large as 2ft across. It can reach a height of 3m or more and has a spread of 1-2m.
The Problem
Highly invasive with the ability to out compete other vegetation. The sap can cause severe skin burns.
Himalayan Balsam
What Is Himalayan Balsam?
Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is a major weed problem especially on riverbanks and waste land but can also invade gardens. It tolerates low light levels and also shades out other vegetation so gradually impoverishing habitats by killing off other plants. It is sometimes seen in gardens, either uninvited or grown deliberately.
How Do You Recognise It?
Himalayan balsam is a tall growing (2-3m) annual. Between June and October, it produces clusters of purplish pink helmet shaped flowers. The flowers are followed by seed pods that open explosively when ripe.
The Problem
Each plant can produce up to 800 seeds. These are dispersed widely as the ripe seedpods shoot their seeds up to 7m. Once established in the catchment of a river the seeds which can remain viable for two years are transported further afield by water. Once established, they will out-compete and smother all other vegetation.
