British Waterways cleans up invasive Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed is originally native to Japan, Taiwan and China, and was introduced to Europe as an ornamental plant in the early 19th century. The weed has no natural predators, which allows it to grow rapidly meaning extensive management is required to keep it under control

The plan will involve spraying the weeds with Glyphosate, an herbicide licensed by the Environment Agency, on the Erewash Canal, Nottingham Canal, Chesterfield Canal, and on a small patch of the Grantham Canal in July and September. This is the most effective way to manage the weed - cutting or manually removing it could actually encourage its expansion, due to its ability to grow from fragments as small as 10mm in length.

British Waterways is introducing the clean-up plan to ensure that the potentially damaging weed doesn’t spread further. The roots of the Japanese Knotweed are extremely long and tough, and could possibly work their way into bridges and concrete foundations, creating a costly problem for waterside buildings and developments.

Deanne Gow, Ecologist at British Waterways emphasised the importance of the clean-up, saying: “It’s necessary to control the growth of Japanese Knotweed, because if we don’t it could cause great problems on our riverbanks and waterside buildings. We are taking this action now because if the weed goes uncontrolled its roots could affect historic locks and bridges along the waterways”.