Japanese Knotweed can look different depending on the season, here is a helpful guide on how to spot it:
Spring:
- Red shoots appearing
- leaves begin to unroll and spread out
- canes shoot up and leaves begin to turn green.
Japanese Knotweed begins to sprout in spring, this is also when it’s in the fastest growing stage. Japanese knotweed has red/purple stems, therefore, it is very visible. These shoots also have rolled up leaves that gradually open up and are a light green colour.
Summer:
- Heart/ shovel-shaped leaves
- White flowers begin to appear
- stems grow in a zig-zag.
During the summer the purple shoots will become hollow (a lot like bamboo shoots). The Stems will have purple speckles and the leaves will start to grow in the iconic zig-zag shape. The easiest way to identify Japanese Knotweed is by its leaves.
During the summer the leaves are flat and green, they have very pronounced veins, they’re also a heart/shovel shape. During this time White/cream flowers begin to appear in clusters, these tend to begin blooming in late August.
Japanese Knotweed in Summer
Autumn:
- Leaves start to turn yellow
- during September and October, the leaves start to wilt
At the beginning of autumn, Japanese knotweed will have small white/cream clustered flowers and there will be many leaves covering the plant. At the start of the season, Japanese knotweed will have it’s distinctive green and white colours, these will wilt away and the leaves will turn yellow as the season passes. During this time the plant will be around 2-3 meters in height.
Nearing the end of autumn the stems of Japanese knotweed will turn from a red/light brown color to a dark shade of brown. By the end of the season coming into winter, the yellow leaves will also begin to wilt.
Japanese Knotweed in Autumn
Winter:
- Knotweed canes turn a brown colour
- leaves turn brown of drop off
- when snapped the Japanese Knotweed canes are hollow (like bamboo)
During the winter all of the leaves will have wilted and fallen off the plant. The canes will be very hollow, a dark brown colour, and will become very brittle. When the canes are brittle they tend to collapse under eachother creating plant debris.
Japanese Knotweed is probably the hardest to identify in winter this is due to the lack of leaves and flowers to give its iconic look. By the end of winter, you will find amongst the plant debris fresh new shoots ready for the spring
Japanese Knotweed in Winter
Japanese Knotweed taking over your home?
Why you should claim compensation:
- Altogether Japanese Knotweed has knocked around £20 BILLION off the UK property housing market
- 5% of UK houses are affected by Japanese Knotweed could also reduce the value of your house by 5-20%
IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET RID OF IT
