My neighbour appears to be growing this intentionally. Is this what I think it is, and would I be a dick if I reported it?

by helcor

48 Comments

  1. Moon_Flower_000

    This does unfortunately look like Japanese knotweed, *Reynoutria japonica,* though do consider what other replies say. It is really a dangerously invasive plant, so I’d report it if I were you.

  2. donjuan510

    Tell your neighbor to get it professionally removed. Report it if he doesn’t.

  3. UserNameIsAvail

    Knotweed imo, if thats leaning over onto your side its probably already too late. The rhizomes spread rapidly. It’ll start popping up multiple feet from the closest growth in no time

  4. Frosty-Priority5056

    out of curiosity, who are the “authorities” here?

  5. Appears to be highly invasive Japanese knotweed 😖

  6. reavers-reapers

    Maybe you should talk to your neighbor first, they might be unaware and they’ll rip it out themselves. I’d think it was hugely a dick move if my neighbor reported it to someone without even talking to me first

  7. mapotoful

    Talk to the neighbors first, they may just genuinely not know what it is and we’re like “oo this popped up and is growing fast, I like that” – I’ve seen that happen more than a handful of times with invasive plants.

  8. Chances are they do not realize what it is or that it is invasive. Be a kind person and speak to them about it.

  9. Silent-Strength-027

    I don’t know why people are so gun-ho about reporting first and asking later. Do the humane thing and go talk to your neighbor. Maybe they don’t know it’s invasive and maybe their kid just thought it was a cool plant. Talking to people can solve so many problems without involving authorities. Unless you think it’s unsafe to talk, do so please.

  10. Dontchaknowdso

    Honest question, why is it so bad? Is it like Kudzu and kills everything around it?

  11. MRSBRIGHTSKIES

    Why on earth would anyone purposefully plant Japanese Knotweed? It’s not all that pretty or ornamental. Maybe it just appeared one day, as it tends to do, and they let it grow. Is the rest of the yard cared for? I would talk to them before reporting and offer to help remove it. You can burn it in a nice bonfire and share s’mores!

  12. Educational_Infidel

    If I were ignorant of an invasive plant in my yard and my neighbors reported me without talking to me, I’d become the most passive aggressive neighbor from Hell. Then again I am a Florida man…

    Seriously though, talk to neighbor and explain how bad that stuff is.

  13. Ms_runs_with_cats

    Japanese Knotweed. I’m forever seeing it popping up in my suburban area in Nova Scotia. The stuff is brutal to get rid of. Report it.

  14. DrawingOverall4306

    Have you tried talking to your neighbor?

    Because if you call enforcement without talking to your neighbor, yes you would be a dick.

  15. catnipmatcha

    I have Japanese Knotweed in my yard, it just cropped up. But the entire neighborhood has it. It doesn’t seem like there will be any repercussions for reporting it so I would report it and then make a plan with your neighbor to remove it.

  16. RadiantIce9283

    Does it smell like something dead? My wife got something like this when she delivered the mail. It stinks and is hard to kill. You think it’s dead and back up it comes.

  17. Good luck ever getting rid of it. I’m in environmental field and this plant destroyed a protective cap placed over solid waste, costing almost $1M to eradicate. It can poke through 4″ thick asphalt. Ripping it out does very little as it will come back with a vengeance.

  18. Final-Attention979

    Bro if I had it and didnt know id be appreciative if you told me first but like. Shit.

  19. anOvenofWitches

    Tell them it’s a delicacy in your kitchen and ask to “harvest” it

  20. Not sure about Canada but it’s an offence to deliberately or recklessly spread Japanese knotweed in the UK.. would be surprised if Canada doesn’t have similar laws

  21. sumrdragon

    It’s edible, I believe. Might want to get some free veg…

  22. Witty_Celebration_96

    I thought it was marijuana, turns out it’s notweed.

  23. Merrick_McIntosh

    Just curious. Who do things like this get reported to? Also, what are the penalties for planting invasive planta?

  24. 100_HOLLOW_001

    Please update if you decide to tell someone I want to know what happens or if your neighbour removes it or not 🙏

  25. Nightmare plant. We moved into our house November 2009 and come spring 2010 we were in for the nastiest surprise. Weird bamboo looking and extremely fast growing bush starting growing near the front porch. It took 5 years of constant mowing and pulling to get it to really slow down and 15 years later we still find rogue shoots here and there. Knotweed is a persistent bugger.

  26. reynvann65

    Report it right away. Kill whatever you can manage to reach without trespassing. Cut whatever you can and brush the cut with straight glyphosate. Don’t do foliar spray and lay cuttings out in sun on concrete to dry out.

    Japanese knotweed worse than frickin ivy!!!!

  27. joaniemoon

    This plant is absolute hell. Do not mow it or weed whack it, as it’ll just cause it to spread more. I do not ever recommend round up, but this might be the only time to use it. Not sure about Ontario, but where I live, you cannot even put it in green waste or take it to the dump.

  28. Not2daydear

    I had some things growing along the fence line from my neighbors house. They started popping up in my lawn 15 feet from the fence with runners under the concrete walkway. I got a bag of crushed softener salt and spread it out along the fence. Then I watered it, a lot, every day. It sterilized the soil and nothing grew for a very long time. No more runners coming through the salt zone. Salt pretty much kills everything and a bag of softener salt is only five dollars.

  29. KSCleves83

    I would even consider injecting something into the soil along the fence line to prevent rhizomes from spreading.

    I’d try to find some natural inhibitor to apply – I don’t have an answer as to what they is, though . But stay away from Round Up or other heavy chemical in pesticides, you’re solving one problem but creating another. And avoid adding salts to a DIY spray, etc.

    You must compel your neighbor to work together to eradicate it.

  30. 80sLegoDystopia

    Have a conversation about that 😬 Some people just don’t have the ecological sense.

  31. Traditional_Count_21

    Pull it out and keep pulling it out every 2 months for the coming three years, good luck to you and your neighbour

  32. East-Action8811

    Sorry OP, my neighbors in added my property with it too because they didn’t research how to manage it and just kept mowing/weed whacking it 🤬

  33. Smurfette21359

    You have to notify the authorities in the uk makes selling your property not viable

  34. Old-Climate2655

    Don’t mess around. Exposed and remove the roots on your side ASAP. Refill the hole with the sifted old soil and some fresh garden soil. Plant fennel. If you know someone growing fennel (especially wild fennel) transplant a few.

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