A property developer has claimed he has spent more than £1million tackling Japanese Knotweed.
Dorian Payne, a developer in Wales, claimed he encounters the destructive weed, which can grow to heights of more than 10feet and sprouts through tiny cracks, at almost every property he takes on.
Japanese Knotweed can tear through brickwork and concrete if left to spread at will and, over time, can take over gardens and cause long–term damage.
Across the UK, there are now over 100,000 infestations recorded annually with this summer seeing a huge spike in cases.
Mr Payne, 30, spoke to the Daily Mail during a break from fighting the Knotweed on his current job in Newport and revealed it’s the number one issue he faces when starting a new project.
He said: ‘It’s everywhere we go, especially near rail lines.
‘I have dealt with it ever since I have been developing. Even now we just did work on a car park and there’s knotweed on the site.
‘How it gets to these kinds of places – it’s unreal.
Property developer Dorian Payne has claimed he has spent more than £1million tackling Japanese Knotweed jungles at sites, including this one in Newport
It can tear through brickwork and concrete if left to spread at will and, over time, can take over gardens and cause long–term damage
Mr Payne taking on a nasty case of Knotweed at a property development in Newport
‘I’ve long been operating on the fact it is everywhere. It’s quite rare we have a site where there is no evidence of it in the vicinity.
‘I have spent well over £1m across different sites over the years.
‘We’re in Newport right now and it is going to cost us more than £100,000, but we do not know exactly yet.
‘We keep finding more of it the more we dig. You never know with the root system exactly where it stops.’
Dystopian pictures from one of Mr Payne’s recent jobs show a sprawling mass of the Knotweed, snaking its way across an otherwise idyllic landscape.
Towering plants soaring over high fences make post-apocalyptic novels like The Day of the Triffids look tame, while aerial shots show thousands of square feet consumed by the invasive species.
‘It can easily span more than 1,000sqm,’ the property developer said wearily. ‘It will expand by itself, left alone and untreated it keeps spreading.
‘It can engulf the entire site.
Work being done on a Knotweed-infested site. Getting rid of the plant is an arduous process required on most of their jobs and is not for the faint-hearted
Mr Payne revealed he encounters the invasive species, which looks like bamboo and can grow to heights of more than 10 feet, at almost every property he takes on
He spoke to the Daily Mail during a break from fighting the Knotweed on his current job in Newport
Dystopian pictures from one of Mr Payne’s recent projects show a sprawling mass of the Knotweed, snaking its way across an otherwise idyllic landscape
‘The one we just removed, the stems were massive.
‘These things are much taller than me so 10 foot is not an understatement at all.’
Mr Payne’s company develops large sites into social homes before handing them over to a range of clients, including several councils.
Getting rid of Knotweed is an arduous process required on most of their projects and is not for the faint-hearted.
First, his team have a scan of the land and if there is even the slimmest chance of the pesky plant being present, they call in a specialist subcontractor.
If it is in an area they are not developing, like a site’s boundary or land they do not own, all they can do is spray herbicide each year to try to kill it.
This process takes five years and even then, in Mr Payne’s opinion, it does not ‘fully’ vanquish it.
If Japanese Knotweed lies on one of their sites, then it’s all systems go.
A development site pictured amid a Knotweed excavation. Getting rid of the plant requires careful work hand picking and hand bagging the culprit before replacing the space with soil
Across the UK, there are now over 100,000 infestations recorded annually with this summer seeing a huge spike in cases
The Rhizomes (the ‘invasive’ bit) have to be carefully excavated if there is any hope of stopping the spread, followed by the towering bamboo and the leaves.
This is done by a couple of individuals who hand pick and hand bag the virulent plants before sending them to a controlled waste centre.
Finally, they refill the area with subsoil or stone and hand the place over to the client.
But this is not the end of the process. They must commence a spraying monitoring plan for the next five to seven years to make sure the Knotweed never returns.
‘You need an ongoing treatment plan,’ Mr Payne said.
‘You have to have it monitored for years and they come back and spray it to keep on top of it.
Mr Payne has also suggested ways to spot knotweed before it becomes costly.
‘Scanning the neighbouring properties can work,’ the property developer added. ‘If it is a couple of gardens down, there’s a chance it can spread from garden to garden.
Knotweed pictured taking over a development site. It was sold in garden centres in the 19th century and has spread greatly over the course of the last two centuries
These towering plants soaring over high fences make post-apocalyptic novels like The Day of the Triffids look tame
‘To visibly see it, it looks like bamboo canes and you soon see it rapidly growing.
‘Really if something in your garden is growing fast then take a look at it.
‘It can have white flowers growing on it too in the summer.
‘But if you can’t see anything in your property, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.’
Mr Payne has become adept at spotting the stuff and delivering the bad news to clients and colleagues that there is Knotweed about.
He is also rather well versed in the history of the plant, which dates back to the 19th century when Victorian notables imported it for its ornamental qualities.
It was sold in garden centres at the time and has spread greatly over the course of the last two centuries.
Knotweed was also used as ground stabilisation on railway banks which is why most of the sites where Mr Payne finds the plant are near train lines.
Japanese Knotwood pictuered at a site from above. It can be nipped in the bud by addressing any plants in a garden which seem to be growing quickly
Knotweed can easily span thousands of feet above the surface of the property, and just as much below the soil
It has a long history, but is it a growing problem?
‘It is increasing, by the nature of the plant itself it is increasing.
‘Because it is often on private property, people have to pay to get rid of it themselves and some of them can’t, because it’s expensive.
‘There’s no funding helping anybody to do it, so in that sense, it’s just going to increase.’
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