The sun is shining… Japanese Knotweed is growing

Well, the heat wave has come early for us this year… what have we all been doing? Spending time in the garden maybe? Eating ice cream on the beach? Having the first BBQ of the year? The possibilities are endless… What have I been doing? Receiving reports from my maintenance teams that Japanese Knotweed is

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A big ‘Thank you’ to Acorn Ecology!

I would like to write a short Blog about a course I attended yesterday… Now, I never usually write about courses or CPD presentations, however, I would like to give a special mention to this one… I completed a Phase 1 Habitat Course undertaken by Acorn Ecology. I found this course was delivered and organised

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Biological control of Japanese Knotweed

There is a lot talked about how Japanese knotweed has no natural predators in the UK – which results in its rampant growth and rapid rate of spread. People talk about the psyllid aphid and the leaf spot fungus. Some people even pick and eat JK in the early growing season, before it branches. This

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I told you so

Why do some people in life always make quick decisions without researching their topic thoroughly enough? They just look at the immediate bottom line 24/7 without thinking about the long term implications of their decisions. We undertook a large site survey for invasive weeds, constructed a detailed remediation report complete with design drawings, site specific

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Mersey beetles try Knotweed diet

Japanese Knotweed Solutions have been tasked by the CABI with bringing them information on the recently released Psyllid aphid ‘Aphalara Itadori’ (the Japanese Knotweed Psyllid), so we’re always on the lookout for evidence of abnormal Japanese knotweed plants. The Japanese Knotweed Psyllid is brown in colour and about 2mm long – similar size to the

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European fact-finding mission

I’ve just returned from an invasive weed fact-finding mission in Hamburg, (which I managed to combine with my stag do). I really enjoyed Germany – the people were friendly, and it wasn’t what I expected. My memory of certain parts of the weekend may be a little hazy, but I distinctly remember spotting significant amounts

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Clean your equipment

It may sound obvious, but keeping your equipment clean is a really important habit to get in to – otherwise you might end up spreading unwanted invaders when you go to work. At JKSL we have come across a number of widespread problems that have been caused by garden maintenance teams’ contaminated equipment. Once they

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Leaf spot fungus

Leaf-spotting is something that is a regular part of my job, but the Leaf Spot Fungus is not something I have encountered much. There is a particular variant of this fungus – the (Mycosphaerella polygoni-cuspidati) which has been suggested as a method of natural control for Japanese knotweed.  The fungus is one of a few

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Biological control of Himalayan Balsam

We have written quite a bit about the Japanese Knotweed Psyllid (aphalara itadori), which has been released in to the wild in the UK as a form of Japanese knotweed controland. I also wrote recently about the form of leaf spot fungus which is under research by CABI for potential release as another bio-control agent.

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