Japanese Knotweed

[Les]

I just attended a seminar conducted by our local Cooperative Extension regarding invasive plant species.  As she ran through the lists of invasive plants, I snapped to attention when up came a photo of Japanese Knotweed.  The reason why it got my attention is that I have seen on various beekeeping websites, etc. people asking advice as to what are good plants to grow for nectar.  Several times I have seen Japanese Knotweed recommended.  Japanese Knotweed has become so invasive it is driving out the native plants.....not good folks.  I suggest you do NOT plant or transplant (although it is doing very well on it's own) Japanese Knotweed.  If you dig it up, do not leave even a single branch behind.  This plant has become adept at rooting itself if left on the ground.  The CE recommends, placing it in black plastic bags and solarizing it and not to place in any type of compost.

[camero7]

Love that stuff, get a good fall flow off it. Remember honey bees are an invasive species too.

[G3farms]

Remember honey bees are an invasive species too.

so are people!

[Les]

Yes we are an invasive species but with the intelligence to undo what has been harmfully done.  Well, at least some of us LOL.

[Perry]

I've seen folks cut that stuff off at the ground, cover it with black tarps and gravel, wait 3 years and uncovered it thinking it would be dead, and it just took right off again.
That said, bees do love it!

[Slowmodem]

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

I had to look it up.  I'd never heard of it.  Sounds like I don't want any around here.  Of course, we already have kudzu, which, along with roaches, will eventually conquer the world.

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

[riverbee]

the good, the bad, the ugly, and sometimes for beekeepers what plants, invasive or not what gets the bees a late summer flow is all that matters. 
many plants are invasive. japanese knotwood/bamboo is invasive and is hard to kill.

we had/have japanese bamboo, a large stand gave my bees some winter stores and some late summer honey for me. we didn't plant it, it was already there.  a large enough stand of it and in august, we could hear the bees on it from a distance, and the flowers were covered with my bees working it. because we are in a forest management program, the county forester got after us to get rid of it. i was not happy about it, and for a number of years avoided the county over it.  we finally had to get rid of it over the county forester's pressure to do so.  if there was one late summer bloom that always bloomed, it was this stuff, irregardless of rain or drought, it is hardy, and does spread.  it always gave my bees stores and me honey. now that stand is gone, and nothing to replace it where it once was. a heated discussion between me and the county over it.  i get what they are saying, but i can't tell you how many invasive species of plants and trees i have on 80 acres of land.  i have another stand of japanese bamboo in the woods, ain't telling the county about it. 

i can tell ya how to kill it, but i won't...........

i have some pics of my bees working the japanese bamboo, will upload when i find them..

[Ray]

I don't think I've seen it around here. We got Autumn Olive, White and Yellow Sweet Clover, Purple Loosestrife and Spotted Knapweed.

[Bakersdozen]

I am not familiar with Japanese knotweed.  I will add to the list Purple Loosestrife.  It's beautiful and I believe bees work it, but around bodies of water it will take over, choking out water ways.  I see it planted in people's yards around here.  The county extension office discourages it.

[Les]

Riverbee......If you are interested in controlling the spread of the bamboo you are hiding LOL, it can be controlled but it is a bit of work.  You need to dig down two feet and place a wood or metal barrier.  Also, the barrier should be six inches above the ground.  It should be checked once in a while to make sure it hasn't topped the six inch barrier.   

[Les]

Another plant that is on the "watch list" is the Butterfly Bush or Buddelia.  It has started to show up in unwanted places.  It is suggested that the flowers be deadheaded as soon they are done blooming.  I don't want to give mine up so I am out there everyday, snipping away. 
Slowmodem, they showed photos of kudzu and how it covered a cabin in two years.  It is now starting to show up in Long Island.  My daughter lives in Georgia and they are constantly battling it. I understand farmers rent goats and let them have at it to at least keep it tamped down.  Although, I don't think the goat idea would work in a residential setting LOL!

[brooksbeefarm]

I have a 18 acre of wooded land that the Japanese honeysuckle has spread over a third or more of it and killing out several trees and under growth around them. The Conservation Dept. told me what to spray it with to kill it, but i'm going to see if the bees work it when i take some up there before i do. I have Vitex (purple) that the bees work from sun up to sunset that is supposed to be evasive, but can't get it to spread?? Right now they are all over the cat willow bush and the weeping willow by the pond and soft Maples.Another good nectar producing plant that is some what evasive is the Moon flower, i'm planting some around my beeyards, the flowers open late in the evening and it sounds like yourinside of a bee hive around it, it's not hard to kill if you want to. I guess i don't know what Japanese Knotweed is, unless we call it something else? Jack

[riverbee]

"Riverbee......If you are interested in controlling the spread of the bamboo you are hiding LOL, it can be controlled but it is a bit of work.  You need to dig down two feet and place a wood or metal barrier.  Also, the barrier should be six inches above the ground.  It should be checked once in a while to make sure it hasn't topped the six inch barrier."   

...............
i just spit on my screen and keyboard les........

well i fibbed, just a little....... there is a stand that's hidden from the county forester just behind the one i had if he decides to take a drive by, and the stand in the woods is in an area where junk trees are growing.
easier way to control the spread of that without digging barriers two feet down les, same method we used to get rid of it..........will share.....

jack, we call this stuff japanese bamboo, but it is known by both knotweed or bamboo. when it takes off, ours was about 20- 25 ft in height, big green leaves, beautiful blooms. the stalks are bamboo or cane like, and if you pull or dig them out of the ground, you soon figure out why this stuff is so invasive. i thought i had a pic of this stand, still looking for it, but here are a couple pix of what the bloom looks like:

this pic was taken by a friend of mine, she was just amazed at the sound of the bees all over the bloom, and couldn't believe how close she could get to take a picture.......in later years, she volunteered to help take off honey from the hives:



this is my pic:



i just want to add, we have done a great deal of work on 80 acres, to get rid of invasive species and plant for pollinators, and many other things.  it's a great deal of work, and back breaking work at times, not to mention the financial costs of doing so. the hard part, a great deal of invasive species are beneficial to the bees. 

EDIT AND ADD:
we have a gas pipeline that goes through the 80 acres on our property.  the company is pretty a/r about keeping the pipeline clear every few years. they thought they had a 100 foot easement, it's only 50 ft.  not saying who did this, but we have a prolific clover bloom and other things on top, and someone is working on the bottom easement towards the river........

[rcannon]

I don't think I've ever seen that stuff. It may not grow here. Fine by me.
When I bought the place I live on, it was literally covered in kudzu. There was supposed to be a shed on it, but I couldn't find it.
I can tell you one thing about kudzu, it makes good cow feed. They love it. They cleared it all in one summer. That's how I found the shed, but it actually looked better covered up.
Since then, just mowing keeps it in check. It has beautiful flowers in the spring, but they are usually covered by the leaves and hard to see.

[Bakersdozen]

Wintercreeper!     It drives me crazy!  I can't kill it.  It has taken over the fencing.  I have even used Tordon herbicide without any luck.  In the process I killed one of my prized Oakleaf Hydrangea.  The roots must have been intertwined together. 
I see it for sale at garden centers and nurseries.  Don't buy it!  You will regret it!

riverbee-those are lovely pictures.  Nice blooms.  Too bad.