Consider the Weed In defense of botanical trespassers.

[xchrom]

http://www.slate.com/id/2298791/

The first weeds were created 10,000 years ago, when the first fields were cultivated, and the concept of the botanical trespasser—the "plant in the wrong place"—was invented. Seven thousand years later, Middle Eastern farmers, still disgruntled at having lost their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, wrote a creation myth in which agriculture and its accompanying weeds are a celestial punishment for their cleverness. Genesis' god condemns errant humans to till the soil "in the sweat of they face ... cursed is the ground for thy sake ... thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee."

Today the thorns and thistles are still there and more is spent trying to exterminate weeds in farms and gardens than on any other aspect of cultivation. Their appearance sparks reflexes, not reasoning. They are regarded as inexplicable and impertinent intruders, quite unconnected with the way we live our lives. But the fact is that we are responsible for weeds. Every single nuisance, from the purslane and witchweed in the cornfields to the thown-out aquarium exotics now smothering the native flora of the Everglades, is a consequence of our thoughtless and sometimes deliberate disruption of natural systems, ploughing, spraying, moving species way beyond their natural homes.




***slide show @ link

[dipsydoodle]

1. Kudzu is what the UK call Japanese Knotweed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed It is so invasive its classed in a category "illegal to move or transplant". The other two main culprits here are a type of rhododendron and a mauve type buddleia. All were accidently moved around the country by train passengers in Victorian times after their seeds had escaped form the horticultural establishments who'd imported them.

A recent BBC program , The Wonder of Weeds , highlighted problems and benefits of weeds.

[enough]

2. Kudzu is a different plant with a very different habit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu

Japanese knotweed has been making a lot of inroads in my area of SE PA in recent years. I've seen it this year in some very remote areas where it never was before.

No kudzu here (yet).

[dipsydoodle]

3. You can make

the equivalent of rhubarb crumble from knotweed. :)

[happyslug]

4. Knotweed is very heavy in the Western Part of Pennsylvania

The only way to kill it is to spray it with Roundup BUT only after it has flowered (Most are flowering now). Until Knotweed flowers, knotweed do NOT send any sugar produced by the Leaves to its roots. Roundup is absorbed as part of that sugar and taken through out the plant. Thus until the sugar (or what ever you want to call the energy produced by the leaves) starts to go to the Root of the Knotweed plant, you can NOT kill it. On the other hand once the sugar starts to go to the roots, Roundup will kill the plant.

Now, my experience with long multi-decade old knotweed infections is that in the first year, the knotweed is MOSTLY, but not totally killed off. In the first year the Knotweed is over my head and I have to spray it from afar (if possible) or from within by being careful NOT to cut any stalk of the Plant (If the plant stalk is cut, no way for the Roundup to get to the roots).

The Second year, the knotweed is much less, mostly waist to shoulder level and in scattered plants, not the interconnected plants of the first year. Most of these plants do NOT flower in that second year. Spraying them at the same time as flowering knotweed is ineffective, the roots remain untouched by the Sprayed. I tend to wait till the middle of August before spraying such plants (and that is true of even first year sprayed knotweed that has NOT flowered). Before that time it is a waste of time and poison to spray the Knotweed.

I once sprayed two knotweed plants, right next to each other, one was flowering, one was NOT. The Flower one did NOT come back the next spring, but the non-flowering one did. That is the nature of Knotweed.

There is an alternative method as to Knotweed, it is known as Cows. Cattle LOVE Knotweed, and it is good for them. The problem with Cow removal is you are looking at a 5-10 year program AND no coverage unless the cows can get to the area where the Knotweed exists. I have seen Diary farms with no knotweed in their fields, but over the Fence line is the Knotweed plants, ready to move into the Pasture, but kept in checked by the Cows.

Deer tend NOT to eat Knotweed, Elk may, but there is no Elk in Cambria County for me to test that theory. Buffalo/Bison would have no problems eating Knotweed, but again none exist in the wild in Pennsylvania. Just an alternative system, but hard to use in area without fencing, and fencing tends to restrict how good such alternative method would work.