not Knot weed?

[philpjuk100]

Doing a bit of gardening I found some tall plants that were not there last week,the land was flooded for a couple of months during the winter(it`s on the riverbank) I looked the other side of the fence into the wood next door and there are examples there over 10ft tall,they have no roots worth talkink about and the stems are hollow,I cut one and pints of "sap" ran out.I googled knotweed and hogweed but think these may be different.I will email a pic to county hall in case it needs to be notified.

 

[philpjuk100]

Oh and a pic of the leaves

 

[mivec]

It looks like Angelica...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica

We had one appear in our old garden and panicked about what it was.

 

[philpjuk100]

Oh and a pic of the leaves

(triffids,red weed?)

 

[philpjuk100]

Yes that looks a bit like it,it has no flower heads on it yet,the sap seem to be an irritant,amazed at the speed at which it grew 4/5 ft in a week!

 

[philpjuk100]

Oooh err! put angeica into google images! by ek! not many of them to the pound!

 

[mivec]

I've never known anything to grow so quick, it just appears!
I seem to remember it all falls over later in the summer as it can't support it's own weight, from what you say about the roots I'm not surprised.

 

[philpjuk100]

That must be it,so easy to pull out,have put them on the compost heap,thanks,phil.

 

[vicky whitworth]

It's not Japanese Knotweed which doesn't have hollow stems and has deep roots.
It's Himalayan Balsam which is a total no, no for many conservationists because it's not native and spreads like crazy as you have discovered , obliterates all the native stuff, and takes over the world. We have working parties down these parts to pull it out along the river bank because it loves water.
On the other hand I have heard that it is one of the few things that flower after all the other stuff has finished and thus it is good for bees, etc. It's very cheery in pink, and best of all you can pop the seed pods and the seed flies out with a snap so kids love it - but this of course adds to its ability to spread.
Personally I pull it out and grumble about it.
Remember that Giant Hogweed burns the skin and so should be handled with gloves. I had a burn on my leg for months in the shape of a ring where the hollow stem had touched my leg when I was gardening. Couldn't work out what it was for ages. Thought it might have been a tic :evil:

 

[philpjuk100]

YES! that`s it. The area in the wood that it is growing in was thick with nettles last year,most of these have been displaced.I have permission to log trees in the wood so will pull these out near the border to keep them off my garden,will make plenty of compost! Thanks for the identification,phil.

 

[CliffordPope]

Unless the places of origin of these plants are already over-run and uninhabitable, then presumably in their native lands there must be some kind of wildlife that keeps them in check.
Perhaps we could introduce some of that too?

 

[atticman]

What, like rabbits in Australia?? :shock: :shock:

 

[philpjuk100]

WABBITS!!?* don`t get me started om them as well!

 

[CliffordPope]

What, like rabbits in Australia?? :shock: :shock:

But we don't, afaik, have any imported Australian weeds here that are running wild.
Is Japan over-run with Japanese knotwed?
Or Nepal with himalayan balsam?

Presumably not - why? What keeps it in check there, but is a disaster here?

 

[LadyArowana]

What, like rabbits in Australia?? :shock: :shock:[/
Is Japan over-run with Japanese knotwed?

No, it isn't, but I can say why. Much of it is quite mountainous and foresty, the flatter coastal bits have a lot of urban centers and some agriculture. I've hiked quite a bit there and can't remember large triffids rampaging about. The other thing that was odd there was that you didn't really get pestered by wasps if you ate outside in the countryside. There were bees, but they were very well behaved!

 

[Penners]

I agree with Vicky - that definitely looks like Himalayan Balsam. It's not as destructive as JKW, but it's still a hell of a pest. Whatever you do, don't let it flower and go to seed - the seeds explode out of the pods and fly for a considerable distance, so the following year you'll find that it has spread like mad.

Haul it out and burn it.

 

[philpjuk100]

Have cut down a fair sized area of these with a brush cutter,they dont burn (far too wet) so tried to shred them but the stems are too thick to fit down the hole in the shredder so have built a compost heap with them,they are a long way off flowering so will this be ok?they start wilting almost as soon as you cut them down and attract flys,will cover them with grass cuttings and shredded wood.I cut them down with a brush cutter so the roots are still there but they just seem to be rotting with the inch or so of stem that is left,I would rather not use any weedkillers on the riverbank.I do not have "green fingers" and these are covering quite a large area,most of it is not on my land,I sent pics to the council environmental dept but they have not replied.Quite a shock,there were just a few small ones last year which I pulled out and now there are loads of 7/8 ft ones! phil.

 

[Penners]

Have cut down a fair sized area of these with a brush cutter,they dont burn (far too wet) so tried to shred them but the stems are too thick to fit down the hole in the shredder so have built a compost heap with them

I wouldn't compost them. Seeds - particularly the seeds of tough weeds like these - have a remarkable ability to survive long after the plant that bore them has passed on to that Great Garden Centre In The Sky. You could find that the seeds will still be viable for years to come.

Do you have a green council wheelie bin? If so, I should put them in there. Or you could take them to the recycling centre for composting - their huge compost heaps get hot enough to kill seeds.

Otherwise, if they won't burn now, I would let them dry out and then burn them.

 

[Moo]

I'd like to second that observation about the seeds. Anything you do once those entertaining little pods have set will be pointless.
However, it's a shallow-rooted annual, so it will be easy to deal with next season, before it flowers.
Just be grateful that its not knotweed!

 

[philpjuk100]

There are no flowers on them yet so I am hoping there are no seeds either,the main problem is volume I have built a pile taller than me!,they would fill many wheely bins and the council do not supply me with even one! It might be a bit bad but I was considering pushing the pile into the river to join the islands of grass cuttings that float past,I know this is wrong and as a boat owner I would be upset to have it block my cooling so probably won`t.Each stem contains a large quantity of sap.I have talked to a chap who has lived in the villiage for many years who tells me they seem to grow in cycles following flooding and if we get a winter without too much flooding they will disappear again, and that when the angling club used to clear them they used to just "pull" them and leave them where they were to rot.Spent a day clearing as many as I could but it is now more difficult as the rest are amongst nettles and brambles.My garden is now clear and I have cleared obout 20ft into the wood down stream from me so hope the remaining flants do not fire seeds over the boundary. phil.