I find (in UK) riverbanks and the adjacent meadows where I used to play as a kid now clogged with this wretched stuff with occasional outcrops of Giant Hogweed. Both species were introduced to Britain as ornamental plants. Like the Cane Toad fiasco in Australia, we keep demonstrating that we're too clever for our clogs. Nature Bats Last - with a bigger bat!
I did not know about Japanese knotweed. I was too busy trying to eradicate the poison ivy from my backyard this week; I managed to make headway without infecting myself, which, given what happened to my arm last year, is a great win. From Emily Dickinson "I measure every Grief I meet / With narrow, probing, eyes – I wonder if It weighs like Mine – Or has an Easier size.....Still fascinated to presume That Some – are like my own –
In my experience (30 years of organic farming) knotweed if mowed twice a year is fairly easy to contain. Also it doesn't like tillage and rarely spreads to crop fields unless they are excessively wet. But then, that is really not the point of the essay.
Ok, here it has invaded riparian forests and dominates until or where the canopy dominates. It's a serious noxious weed and needs to be carefully managed .
It’s so hard to escape the sadness, once you’re in it. I haven’t.
I guess it can be labelled anticipatory grief. I figure one has to fully accept the loss of everything - the mortality of the world. The scale and significance does not compute. I think the key is in finding gratitude for it ever having existed in the first place (and still exists, largely) for that is truly an absurd miracle.
As a reserve manager in the early 90s on Slapton Let NNR had a plan to deal with patch of Japanese Knotweed. We use to cut it, burn it and spray any shoots that came up with the awful glyphosate (roundup). Be very careful to not allow any to escape with clothing or on shoes. We had a battle plan of attack to do this on the patch I think three times a year in the growing seasons. I can report some success, but it never died. But it did not spread and I think the patch (on the far Southern tip of Slapton Ley shoreline near the village of Torcross) is still contained 40 years later with this regime in the management plan. But still alive... I think but haven't visited for many years
Japanese Knotweed is now endemic in the UK, and some think the government response and the bank/insurance industries draconian responses (cancelling finance and making homes worthless and unsaleable) are scaring people into ignoring outbreaks.
The root systems are so powerful they can open up cracks and 'heave' foundations and floors, making almost any building unsalvageable. Destroying the root systems (itself almost impossible) then leaves voids that can settle or collapse.
It is very difficult to eradicate because the rhizome root system can extend 3 metres deep (10') and 7 metres (over 20') horizontally in every direction. Even a tiny piece of root or rhizome left in the ground, such as from trying to dig it out, is enough to start the plants growing again, potentially with dozens of new, disconnected root systems. Even the waste from digging it out is legally classified as dangerous waste and has to be in sealed bags and incinerated at a licensed facility.
The treatment is repeated applications of industrial strength Glysophate (concentrated Roundup) injected manually, directly into the hollow stems of plants above ground, without cutting them. But that only kills the root rhizomes close by, so the next season the surviving rhizomes will send up new shoots, and they must be injected too. This may need to continue for 4 or 5 years before attempting to dig out the entire root systems, because digging out will itself spread any live root fragments. Even the dead roots are now toxic from the weedkiller.
Fantastic essay, thank you. "We are living in the future ruins of our once beautiful planet, where every single inch of what used to be our fertile soils, blue oceans and clear skies is now covered by humanity’s collective Japanese knotweed." pretty much nails it.
My bright shiny object distraction today was my John Deere tractor and bush hog. Chopped and dropped several acres of alfalfa and orchard grass. Both invasive species but they’re adding organic matter to the land that I’m going to use to expand my orchard and start my vineyard. In the overall scheme of things will they make any difference at all? No. But I’m not going down without a fight, no matter how pointless or immaterial, I’m in the fight even though it’s not going to matter. Oh, and when I’m on the tractor the only thing on my mind and grabbing my attention and distracting me is how much the soil I’m working on has improved over the past few years.
Thank you for so eloquently expressing the slient scream we're all trapped in.
For me, it's meditation. It's about the only reprieve I'm (sometimes) able to find; the antithesis to all the bright shiny objects, and the crushing weight of this fucked up time and place.
(In combination with a good guided app, I find low-dose ketamine [nasal spray] –in combination with a good guided app– quite effective in facilitating more "productive" sessions... with virtually zero side effects. Again, fwiw)
The female AI voice is not quite suited to all the F bombs coming from Hambone.
I find (in UK) riverbanks and the adjacent meadows where I used to play as a kid now clogged with this wretched stuff with occasional outcrops of Giant Hogweed. Both species were introduced to Britain as ornamental plants. Like the Cane Toad fiasco in Australia, we keep demonstrating that we're too clever for our clogs. Nature Bats Last - with a bigger bat!
See: https://youtu.be/DjnXRw7limI?t=222
more complex, but no smarter.
I did not know about Japanese knotweed. I was too busy trying to eradicate the poison ivy from my backyard this week; I managed to make headway without infecting myself, which, given what happened to my arm last year, is a great win. From Emily Dickinson "I measure every Grief I meet / With narrow, probing, eyes – I wonder if It weighs like Mine – Or has an Easier size.....Still fascinated to presume That Some – are like my own –
La la la
It’s edible.
Early spring, go cut down every sprig that you can find, and cook it like asparagus.
Keep doing that. Let no top growth happen. It’ll die *IF* you don’t let it grow at all, and you stay on top of it.
Excellent metaphor i know this demon weed and my story knotweed rhizomes were planted streamside by vandals. To reflect on your piece.
5star 5 star I was moved thank you eliot
In my experience (30 years of organic farming) knotweed if mowed twice a year is fairly easy to contain. Also it doesn't like tillage and rarely spreads to crop fields unless they are excessively wet. But then, that is really not the point of the essay.
Ok, here it has invaded riparian forests and dominates until or where the canopy dominates. It's a serious noxious weed and needs to be carefully managed .
It’s so hard to escape the sadness, once you’re in it. I haven’t.
I guess it can be labelled anticipatory grief. I figure one has to fully accept the loss of everything - the mortality of the world. The scale and significance does not compute. I think the key is in finding gratitude for it ever having existed in the first place (and still exists, largely) for that is truly an absurd miracle.
I like this
I am living exactly this way, too. The profound pointlessness of it all is my constant refrain.
Knotweed is great for sequestering carbon though.
I wish I had some. I visit a lot of posh golf courses when I'm working...
EDIT: works great for data centres too!
bees love the flowers too
As a reserve manager in the early 90s on Slapton Let NNR had a plan to deal with patch of Japanese Knotweed. We use to cut it, burn it and spray any shoots that came up with the awful glyphosate (roundup). Be very careful to not allow any to escape with clothing or on shoes. We had a battle plan of attack to do this on the patch I think three times a year in the growing seasons. I can report some success, but it never died. But it did not spread and I think the patch (on the far Southern tip of Slapton Ley shoreline near the village of Torcross) is still contained 40 years later with this regime in the management plan. But still alive... I think but haven't visited for many years
Japanese Knotweed is now endemic in the UK, and some think the government response and the bank/insurance industries draconian responses (cancelling finance and making homes worthless and unsaleable) are scaring people into ignoring outbreaks.
The root systems are so powerful they can open up cracks and 'heave' foundations and floors, making almost any building unsalvageable. Destroying the root systems (itself almost impossible) then leaves voids that can settle or collapse.
It is very difficult to eradicate because the rhizome root system can extend 3 metres deep (10') and 7 metres (over 20') horizontally in every direction. Even a tiny piece of root or rhizome left in the ground, such as from trying to dig it out, is enough to start the plants growing again, potentially with dozens of new, disconnected root systems. Even the waste from digging it out is legally classified as dangerous waste and has to be in sealed bags and incinerated at a licensed facility.
The treatment is repeated applications of industrial strength Glysophate (concentrated Roundup) injected manually, directly into the hollow stems of plants above ground, without cutting them. But that only kills the root rhizomes close by, so the next season the surviving rhizomes will send up new shoots, and they must be injected too. This may need to continue for 4 or 5 years before attempting to dig out the entire root systems, because digging out will itself spread any live root fragments. Even the dead roots are now toxic from the weedkiller.
Hence the nightmare reputation.
Fantastic essay, thank you. "We are living in the future ruins of our once beautiful planet, where every single inch of what used to be our fertile soils, blue oceans and clear skies is now covered by humanity’s collective Japanese knotweed." pretty much nails it.
My bright shiny object distraction today was my John Deere tractor and bush hog. Chopped and dropped several acres of alfalfa and orchard grass. Both invasive species but they’re adding organic matter to the land that I’m going to use to expand my orchard and start my vineyard. In the overall scheme of things will they make any difference at all? No. But I’m not going down without a fight, no matter how pointless or immaterial, I’m in the fight even though it’s not going to matter. Oh, and when I’m on the tractor the only thing on my mind and grabbing my attention and distracting me is how much the soil I’m working on has improved over the past few years.
This one hits really hard, Eliot.
FWIW, you are *really* good at this.
Thank you for so eloquently expressing the slient scream we're all trapped in.
For me, it's meditation. It's about the only reprieve I'm (sometimes) able to find; the antithesis to all the bright shiny objects, and the crushing weight of this fucked up time and place.
(In combination with a good guided app, I find low-dose ketamine [nasal spray] –in combination with a good guided app– quite effective in facilitating more "productive" sessions... with virtually zero side effects. Again, fwiw)
A million thanks, Prof.
I'm gonna have to check out your poetry.
Thank you!