[Dalekz]

Here is a pretty good King County Invasive Knotweeds pamphlet. It gets into control and kill methods (Manual, Mechanical or Chemical Controls) at the end http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/weeds/BMPs/Knotweed-Control.pdf

[Humptulips]

[Klapton]

Perhaps I will remember to report back here with my results. Thanks again to everyone for pitching in .

[treeswarper]

If or should I say when the native alder seeds in, you might want to let it grow. If that area has been abused, the alder will help heal up the soils, it is a nitrogen fixer and the soil will be ready to support some evergreens. You will have firewood.

[Sculpin]

[Humptulips]

Every piece you cut and especially the roots has the potential to sprout. It is near a stream so any disturbance has the potential to put stuff in the water or get inadvertently moved by humans to a new site. How do you think the stuff was spread all over? That brings up another point. If you dig it or cut it where are you going to get rid of plants? They will all grow if you don't make darn sure you have killed them and I bet you will think it is OK but still leave some alive to sprout. I've seen them spray this stuff and there is not a cloud of spray. Across the road from my house they worked right around some apple trees and did not get any on the trees. Seemed like a pretty surgical operation. They used backpack sprayers with a pretty narrow coverage area. I was impressed. I originally thought like you they would kill everything but it seemed they could work around other vegetation. The patches of knotweed kill pretty much everything by crowding it out from the sun so there wasn't a lot of small plants except around the edges.

[Klapton]

[Malachai Constant]

Crickey, and I thought English Ivy was bad that is truly the Devils Weed. Good Luck.

[Humptulips]

Klapton, What is the point in cutting the stuff? Why not just kill it where it is and leave the stuff? Not sure how big your patch is but where it was sprayed here the native stuff like salmonberry came back in from the edges fairly fast.

[Klapton]

[treeswarper]

Update? This wet weather is excellent for planting or replanting vegetation. Hope you got some done. If you plant any coniferous trees, one species that you might consider is Willamette Valley Pine. It is actually a Ponderosa Pine that was once found in that valley and in our state but adapted to the wetter climate. It became rare because it grew where the ground was good for farming, so it was cut and disposed of. I planted a few here, and they thrived through the drought year. That was their first year here. I imagine it might be a "native" tree for your area? I found seedlings at the Weyco tree sale, but there are probably other sources. There are some mature examples by the fairgrounds in the Dallas, OR area.

[treeswarper]

If there were thimbleberries, they will grow on their own. I have too many growing in places I don't want them to grow in. They get whacked! Then come back again and again.

[Randito]

Klapton -- if your farm does indeed have a "hippie" vib -- you might be able to score some volunteer labor through this organization -- of course -- you might need to eschew the use of Monsanto and other "big chem" makers products -- but I kind of feel that's sort of how you roll anyway. https://wwoofusa.org/host-membership/

[Klapton]

I appreciate the info, but this really is a small project. Monsanto is a very naughty corporation, but they do make excellent poisons. I use cheapo brand glyphosphate to avoid giving them my money. I also don't use it anywhere near anything that I will eat. EDIT to add: Now I clicked on the link. Interesting folks. Thank you. We have a LOT of work to do before we will be producing enough to be considered an actual farm. I hope to eventually make some money from it, but mostly it's for my family to eat.

[Ski]

^ The patent on glysophate expired. You don't have to buy it from Montsano. Any chemical manufacturer can cook the stuff up. Last bottle I got was about $45.00 for a 32-ounce bottle of concentrate from Agri-Shop down on 12th & Sprague - was enough for an entire season at three different residential sites. Just find a cheap generic concentrate. I hate using the stuff, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do - just keep it out of the water and away from storm drain grates.