BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

My hunch is oak blight.

...paging Caitlin...

I'm hoping it could pay off some in the winter by letting more sunlight onto the trail, melting the snow and ice which can accumulate down at that end.

What sucks is now that with all the shade trees gone, the already populous japanese knotweed bushes will simply just take over.

God, every time I look the Panther/Junction Hollow Valley and see all the invasive knotweed and kudzu taking over everything, I just shake my head...

Note: I'm pretty sure most folks recognize kudzu, but maybe not knotweed. Knotweed is the big bushy plants with heart shape leaves and bamboo-like shoots that grows along the edges of most of the Panther Hollow Trail. And recently it is starting to get annoying by encroaching on the trail itself, effectively narrowing the trail.

Knotweed I know (only too well), kudzu I do not recognize. I was pretty sure there was an active project to keep kudzu under control around here. Knotweed is too well established to do much more than keep from spreading into one's own special spots.

knotweed invaded my lawn. Theoretically it's edible, similar to asparagus when it's about 3" high. To me it tastes like "nasty lawn plant" and not food (and I eat onion grass, mustard weed, nettles, one random plant I thought was marjoram [what I planted there] until I looked it up, though it went well in soups I have no idea what it was).

There's a voracious bug that eats kudzu that is being studied in the south. Problem is, when the kudzu is gone, it heads for the soybeans.

I keep waiting for someone to discover that knotweed, kudzu, and wild grape are the missing cures to cancer, diabetes, and autism. Makes me feel better about my neglectful neighbors to think these plants may be of some use some day.

i had a strawberry/knotweed pie once that was pretty awesome. it is tough to mess up anything with strawberries tho

Yes, importing something to solve a problem that was caused by previously importing something is a tremendously bad idea. I hope the South is smart enough not to seriously consider that, though history does not support that hope.

Since knotweed seems to grow in any kind of shit-awful conditions, I imagine that after the human race has completely poisoned the planet and extincted themselves, it will probably be knotweed that comes in and starts to clean up the mess, the cockroach of plants. But we will never know. Have a nice day!

oh, edmonds, those bugs are already loose on the south. they're just studying them, in the hopes that they can get them to stop eating soybeans (HA).

that's the sad thing, knotweed doesn't just grow in crap conditions, it also grows in lovely conditions that are the unique habitats to some lovely native biodiversity.

Maybe I need to treat knotweed like rhubarb rather than like asparagus. Pies. Everybody likes pies. The sugar and strawberries might just cover the "lawn" flavor.

"...they're just studying them, in the hopes that they can get them to stop eating soybeans"

Oh, heavens, I'm sure Monsanto can come up with something that will be fantastically great for all of us. Knot.

LMFAO — I had knotweed at my old house next to Riverview Park. It was HORRIBLE. It completely took over the backyard and THEN became a giant stinkbug breeding ground...

Here is the photo when I was done sucking 50,000 stinkbugs into a special Craftsman C3 cordless vaccum cleaner I had to purchase just to get all of them.

I fled to Castle Shannon last winter and alas... No Knotweed (at my place) and not a single stinkbug so far this year...

My "Tim Allen" edition — Stinkbug Removal Tool by Craftsman (with 4ft extension wand).

And the contents of the bag...

Not your Grandma's Potpourri!

I've been seriously tempted to carry a big honkin' knife with me on the bike so's I can slice off the knotweed in my travels. When it gets high enough I can just snap it off, but that doesn't work so well when it's only a foot high, and in May, as mentioned above, it's kinda edible. Biggest problem is carrying the knife. I neither want to leave it on the bike when parked at various points in town, nor have to explain why I'm carrying a huge knife on my person.

Stu, don't feel bad, I used to do the same with my 20" machete. Admittedly, I tied it to my rear rack in the box it came in as a sheath...

Also, found a (relatively) helpful link for dealing with knotweed, at least from a homeowner's perspective or on a small scale:

http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/publications/pdfs/japanese_knotweed_control.pdf

These tactics wouldn't really work near water sources or large-scale like the groves in and around Panther Hollow.

my problem with herbicides in general: "...residue or left over chemical should not be allowed to get into public waters including household drains..."

Problem is, everything sprayed outside finds its way into public waters. Anything used to kill knotweed, other than mechanical exhausting of the rhizome and prevention of it going to seed, will also kill other flora and fauna that you DON'T want dead. Well, that *I* don't want dead, other people may have other opinions.

My husband came to me all excited that he figured out how to kill it without using Roundup. His solution was to dump saltwater on it. I explained why that really wouldn't do either. Biblical vengeance aside, I don't think salting the earth with salt or other chemical herbicide sis the best idea. But that's me.

@ejwme, as I recall, you had the best idea yet for keeping knotweed under control: Cutting off anything above ground and putting it in a covered barrel to rot.

Seems to me, then, that digging up the underground rhizome, knocking off the dirt, and adding it to the barrel, would go a long way to keeping it under control, without using any chemicals.

Has anyone tried this?

Roto-tiller (or hand tilling, UGH) is really one of the best options, from my removal experience. Mechanical > chemical in my plant/general world experience so far when it comes to living things.

Re: Machete. Does anyone hear have a clear understanding on the legalities of carrying something like this on their bike out in the open? I would assume would need to be removed when locked up publicly, but is it fair game otherwise? I am also in the camp of self-trail maintenance until we get these.

digging up the underground rhizome works when it's complete. Unfortunately (and this is according to the Brits, who perceive the knotweed invasion akin to an Herbal Blitz and have rallied with crazy laws) the rhizome can travel far and wide underground, so the likelihood of getting all of it is minimal, and disturbing it seems to make it more active. I can't find the original link I looked at but this one shows a nice discussion: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/north/msg1112424315941.html?28

It travels deep, and far. Disturbing the soil makes it more active. It doesn't need much to reproduce. It grows fast, and I've read more than one account of it pushing through concrete. It is the Voldemort of plants.