Japanese knotweed City one of worst areas for invasive plant
BRISTOL has been ranked one of the ‘worst-affected’ locations for invasive Knotweed in the UK and has almost 500 infestations within a four-kilometre radius.
Newly released figures by invasive plant specialist Environet UK have revealed that Long Ashton, Southmead and Kingswood are among the places most affected across the city.
Using its interactive online tracker to trace the invasive plant species, it found that in the national UK rankings, Bristol falls in second place as one of the worst-affected locations this spring.
It is preceded by Bolton in first place with 684 and followed by St Helens, Merseyside in third (441).
Using an interactive online tracker, which shows the heat signatures of Japanese knotweed, homeowners and buyers can enter their postcode to discover the number of sightings nearby.
The map enables homeowners to understand the risk knotweed poses to their home or one they wish to buy with hotspots highlighted in yellow, orange and, in the worst cases, red.
Hotspots
The Bristol area Japanese knotweed hotspots for 2022, with location in Bristol area and infestations within 4km radius, are:
Bristol 475 Kingswood 329 Southmead 223 Long Ashton 121 Chittening (Avonmouth) 104
Homeowners are being warned to check their garden carefully or seek expert advice if their postcode reveals they have or live near to areas with known occurrences.
Nic Seal, founder and managing director of Environet, said: “Japanese knotweed tends to strike fear into the hearts of homeowners but as long as they’re aware of its presence and take action to remove it before it causes any serious damage or spreads to a neighbour’s property, there’s no reason to panic.”