[Klapton]

My new home is being built on six acres on Stillwater Creek in Lewis County near Vader. It is bordered by a creek with an invasive species, Japanese Knotweed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallopia_japonica . I will attach some pics. It is challenging to remove because it spreads through rhizomes underground, much like its distant cousin, bamboo. It has taken hold in bare, sandy soil in a gully parallel to the stream bed. It took the pictures recently (February) when I could finally see well the lay of the land. I'm posting another picture of what look like salmon berries in the same gully. It's hard for me to tell without summer foliage / berries. Help with a positive identification would be great. It seems to me that salmon berries might be what should be growing there. Any other suggestions about what to plant once I kill the knotweed?

[Klapton]

If anyone is interested in following the progress of my hippie homestead, like my page: https://www.facebook.com/StillwaterAcres/ . I will NOT be posting any of my political rants there, btw. This will be 100% family safe and nice.

[Sculpin]

Klapton, Knotweed is in Polygonaceae so not related at all to bamboo, which is a grass. I would not try to remove this knotweed mechanically, that will silt the creek and you won't get it all. I would wait until early summer when the water level is down, and cut it to the ground. It will quickly resprout. I would then take a hand pump misting bottle of glyphosate solution (pre-diluted or diluted per directions) and carefully spray each sprout. New sprouts readily absorb glyphosate compared to older growth. This will kill the roots and prevent spread. If you do your best to minimize spraying the ground or water (hence the hand pump bottle), this will be the most eco-friendly method. Make sure your herbicide is only glyphosate, most are mixes with other herbicides. It might take up to three sprayings. Spray in late morning on sunny days. It might take a couple weeks to fully die. Some may object to my recommending glyphosate/Round-up, but this is where it can actually benefit society (in contrast to most of its other uses). Salmonberry has tiny spines and so is easy to identify in winter. This reference gives options for replanting seasonally inundated soils: http://www.psp.wa.gov/downloads/LID/draft_2012/AppendixFiles_Jan2012.pdf

[Klapton]

Thanks for the info. I already researched how best to kill the stuff. I too dislike Monsanto as a business, but they do make excellent POISONS. I usually buy a knockoff just to avoid giving them my money. I didn't feel like trudging down into the muck to get a closer look at the salmon berries. I wasn't dressed for it at the time. I'm 90% sure that's what they are. I'll obviously confirm at some point. Again, thanks for the link.

[joker]

Looks like a great property and project, Klapton! Good luck with the invasives.

[Kascadia]

You do realize that Round Up is toxic to aquatic life?

[Klapton]

Yes, I know Roundup is poison. I won't be dumping it into the water. Nor will I be dumping the dead foliage in the water. I will spray it directly on the foliage and remove the dead foliage afterward. The only other way to remove this invasive plant is to dig up and remove about a foot of soil from the entire area, which would also be bad.

[treeswarper]

If Salmonberry is in the area, I think it will come in on it's own. It grows like a weed on the Coast Range of Oregon and we were constantly having to brush it out. Alder will also seed in without help. The Raintree Nursery, which is in the Tilton River Drainage off Hwy 508 just west of Morton has a few native plants and salmonberry is one of them. It is a nice drive. Weyerhauser also has had sales of trees and shrubs at their Rochester Nursery but I think they have already had them. I shall check.

[treeswarper]

Hey, the Rochester Nursery is having their tree sale on Saturday at 8:00 AM. It is best to get there early as they sell out quickly. Looks like you have some Cedar habitat there and Western Red Cedar really sells out quickly at the seedling sale. They usually have a 10 tree limit on it if you buy individual trees. Here is a link. trees and shrubbery If you do plant cedar, you will need to protect it from deer by tubing it. Vellux tubing is what is used. Western Red Cedar is deer and elk candy. Tubing example I do not know how big your property is or how big of plans you have. Lewis County has a very active Washington Farm and Forestry Association and they have meetings, tours and seminars on various topics. Wetlands restoration is one of them sometimes. WFFA

[Humptulips]

Klapton, The Quinaults received a grant from the Federal Government to kill the Knotweed on the Quinault drainage. They treated some plots across the road from me. They treated it much like Sculpin advised. One year of treatment will not kill it however. They treated it two years in a row and although it really knocked it back, it did not kill it completely. I think it would take three years of treatment by this method to eradicate it. I knew the girl in charge of the crew and they just treated once in late summer both years. Also the FS had an eradication project for knotweed along Lake Quinault. They use a slightly different method. They injected glyphosate directly into the stalk. That seemed to wipe them out faster but very labor intensive. I would urge you to reconsider digging them. If you kill them their stalks and roots will hold the ground while native vegetation takes over plus I don't think you will ever get all the roots.

[Kim Brown]

Hop on your county's website & check out their natural resources page and get good information there on knotweed control and stream restoration. I know some agencies inject each stalk with a chemical that kills it. (I see Klapton discusses it as well) But it's expensive and time-consuming for them; perhaps you may be able to control yours better than they can control thousands of acres! You may even consider a conservation easement (check with the county) and so local not for profits or colleges could use your site for restoration as well (if there's even a program near you). Knotweed is a huge problem and it's mostly spread by rafting downstream, so that is why you may qualify. If your county website doesn'st have good information, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce do.

[Klapton]

[Klapton]

[treeswarper]

Some weed knowledge is returning to my small brain. I'm thirding or fourthing not pulling the knotweed because I seem to recall that fragments falling into the creek can go downstream and take root. I also recall having a discussion after finding a patch on the banks of the Tilton River, just barely up from Mayfield Lake. Now I'm curious if that was ever treated? Anyway, I wouldn't be yanking it out because that may cause it to spread downstream.

[Sculpin]

Some dubious information is starting to accumulate here. It does not take multiple years to kill Japanese Knotweed with glyphosate. You do not need to inject the stems or coat the stumps. If you are part of a crew that is removing invasives, you cannot wait for ideal spraying conditions. It is difficult to schedule cutting the weed one week and spraying the sprouts two weeks later, you will end up having to spray on cloudy days and later in the day, etc. All these factors will reduce effectiveness and the weeds may persevere. This is Klapton's residence. He can wait for the right conditions. If he follows the directions I gave EXACTLY, the knotweed will be really most sincerely dead after two or three sprayings. I have heard folks say their eradication effort did not work because Round-up did not affect the weed. Round-up is deadly toxic to anything that photosynthesizes if you can get the plant to metabolize the poison. Some plants have waxy leaves and grow in the full shade. It is difficult to get these plants to metabolize the poison. Japanese Knotweed is not that hard to kill. In the late morning on a sunny day, the stomata on the leaves are open and absorbing the dew, and they will absorb the glyphosate very efficiently. And a disclaimer: I am not the Round-up Man. I hate the stuff. But there are some weeds that cannot be controlled without it. I used it on English pea in my rockgarden, and morning glory on a fence line.