And Laurie went out for a walk while I fought with the beast on my desk, and came home with another enemy to be tackled:
The Japanese knotweed by the fence has sprouted again. More stuff to do tomorrow; chop the thing down. Again. (Sigh)
For now, I've done enough. I'm going to bed. Goodnight!
That Japanese Knotweed does tend to take over, doesn't it? We have the same problem with English Ivy. It's taking over our forests, and killing our trees. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteEvery area has it's eternal pests! For me, it's the purple loosestrife that's taking over and I get so frustrated, esp. with the people who think it's pretty, so they transplant it into their gardens, or cut it for flower arrangements, then toss it outside when dry. Ok, it IS kind of pretty, but...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it would be content to stay within its bounds if you left it alone? My mother once had a lovely clump of it at the end of her house, with a perimeter of lawn around it. It seemed to stay put, and as everyone knows, it is very ornamental.
ReplyDeleteAs well, did you know that in Asia it is a commercial source of resveratrol (see the wikipedia article on it), the well-known antioxidant also found in red grape skins?
I do realize it is considered an invasive weed, but in my experience many weeds spread as a direct reaction to our efforts to get rid of them. Consider Russian Comfrey, which will be everywhere after a rototilling, but left alone, tends to behave.
I also it ironic to see you battling weeds while the rest of us are learning through your blog to ease up on the battles we wage against bugs.
Loosestrife and Ivy; so pretty, and so dangerous to our wildlife!
ReplyDeleteLinnaez; I guess it depends where the Japanese knotweed is. In our area, it takes over, and makes impenetrable thickets which crowd out the native growths. And it sprouts up to 20 meters away from the original plant. On our lot, it keeps sprouting through a planting of juniper and Oregon grape, and through cracks in the paved walkway. (It creates the cracks, or at least widens them, too.)
It's pretty, though.
One thing about it; if I cut the young stalks before the leaves are fully out, they make a good substitute for rhubarb; sweet and a bit milder. I just zap them in the microwave with a bit of water and sweetener, add a topping, and I've got dessert.