Hiring a professional to remove knotweed
Ready to call a local outdoor professional to remove knotweed? Not so fast! It’s tempting to assume that an outdoor professional knows what they’re doing when it comes to knotweed. Unfortunately, most don’t. They may not have the relevant experience, knowledge, or license to combat your issue. Mismanaging knotweed can do more damage than good. A landscaper might be very willing to cut down your knotweed, but by doing so, they may spread rhizomes to their next customer, and the one after that. Your knotweed will grow back too. If you’re seeking professional assistance, proceed with care and scrutiny. While qualified professionals are out there, it’s worth your time and effort to find them. You don’t want to exacerbate your problem, damage property, hurt the environment, or injure an animal or person. We’ve provided some tips below.
Tips for hiring a knotweed professional
Here are some tips for finding help:
Educate yourself: Read through this website and study other reliable information sources before you begin your search. Even a basic understanding of this subject matter will give you insight to establish a level playing field with professionals, ask the right questions, evaluate providers, and identify potential pitfalls.
Research providers: Look for professionals with experience and ask others that have faced (and hopefully successfully managed) their own knotweed problems. Still having trouble? We’re in the process of putting together a list of qualified professionals.
Ask good questions: Qualified professionals should be able to answer relevant questions with straightforward answers that address key concerns. Ask open ended questions so you get a sense of a provider’s approach, experience, and comfort level.
We’ve provided some potential questions below.
Questions to ask a knotweed professional
Sample questions for prospective providers:
How long has the provider been in business?
How much experience does the provider have with knotweed (e.g. number of jobs, nature of projects)?
What type(s) of knotweed have they managed?
Providers should be familiar with all the common varieties of knotweed and their characteristics.
Does the provider have customer referrals and can they provide local locations where they have provided knotweed services?
Evaluation and estimates
Experienced providers will require a solid understanding of your situation in order to provide their perspective. This might be achieved through a physical visit or a detailed online survey (pictures, maps, descriptions, etc.) Any surveys and reports should include potential impact on neighboring properties, environmental considerations, and local laws and restrictions. It should also identify neighboring knotweed stands that might impact remediation.
Methods used to manage and dispose of knotweed
If you’ve read this site, provider answers should sound very familiar. So, if they don’t know what a rhizome is, they aren’t familiar with local restrictions, or suggest a dangerous method or practice, look elsewhere.
Typical “action plan”
Have providers walk you through the typical steps they take to address knotweed.
Steps usually include: 1) onsite visits or detailed surveys, 2) written plans of action, 3) methods of treatment and disposal, 4) a detailed timeline and cost breakdown, 5) return visits
Guarantees?
If you’re lucky, a professional will guarantee their work and knotweed removal. Complete eradication requires several years of monitoring so their action plan should include things like post removal monitoring and any ongoing steps to address regrowth.