Even if you don’t recognise them straight away, invasive plants can have a huge impact on the health of your garden and premises, and in some instances, can even be harmful to you. However, learning to recognise the most dangerous invasive plant life, as well as the risks they pose to your local area, will help you detect any potential outbreaks before they cause serious damage.

One of the most complex invasive plants to thrive in the UK is Japanese knotweed. Although not poisonous to humans or animals, Japanese knotweed can have a potentially devastating effect on the environment in which it grows. Because of this, knowing what your options are when it comes to invasive vegetation removal is key to maintaining and managing your premises. Rather than trying to manage the issue yourself, it’s always best to enlist the help of professional vegetation experts like Ebsford Environmental to eradicate invasive plants safely and legally.

Problems Associated With Invasive Plantlife

Endangers local biodiversity

One of the most important reasons why it is crucial to deal with invasive plants like Japanese knotweed as soon as you come across them is the long-lasting effect they can have on local biodiversity. While knotweed grows in harmony with other plants in its original environment in Japan, its uncontrollable nature means it can quickly take over local flora and fauna. Creating hostile growing conditions in this way, invasive vegetation can rapidly alter the natural landscape, and even lead to local plant life dying out.

Creates unstable habitats

As well as having a detrimental effect on plant life, invasive vegetation also has a serious impact on the wildlife living in the same environment. Especially for animals that live near or in water, fast-growing invasive vegetation causes even more problems. Thick roots can grow across streams and riverbanks, diverting water sources away from habitats that rely on them, and in more serious cases, stopping the flow of fish and pondlife within natural waterways. Quick growth means these changes can happen without giving local wildlife the ability to adapt and evolve, eventually creating unstable and harmful habitats.

Undermines infrastructure

Alongside the very serious implications that invasive vegetation can have on natural environments, it can also create a lot of difficulties for man-made structures too. Many invasive plants are incredibly hard to eradicate fully, meaning if you find them on your property, you’re likely to face a long journey to remove them for good.

Over time, invasive plants can weaken buildings and structures by growing in and around them. Japanese knotweed is strong enough to even grow through concrete foundations; this brings about particular problems for homeowners and landowners, causing irreparable damage if not dealt with by the experts.

Costs for new homeowners

Because Japanese knotweed is incredibly difficult to get rid of permanently, it can be very costly to remove. Unfortunately, the plant is now so widespread in the UK that it’s almost impossible to remove it fully from all local environments. Because of just how serious the plant growth is, the cost of removal falls on to the owner of the land area it is found in. It’s not unheard of for buyers to pull out if Japanese knotweed is discovered on a property, or for potential owners to be denied a mortgage. The financial burden associated with invasive vegetation management means the risks need to be carefully considered before taking on a property with the plant in situ.