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Telling Japanese knotweed from other plants

How it changes through the year, and the St Helens garden plants it is most often mistaken for.

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Red Japanese knotweed shoots in spring — Spring: red shoots

Japanese knotweed in summer leaf — Summer: full leaf

Surveyor checking a knotweed stand — Not sure? Send a photo

In spring

From April, red-purple spears with tightly rolled leaves push through the soil and can gain several centimetres in a day.

In summer

By July it is two to three metres tall. Stems are hollow and flecked with purple, they kink at every node, and the leaves are broad with a flat base.

In autumn

Creamy flower sprays open late in the season. Soon afterwards the leaves go yellow and fall.

In winter

Dead canes stay upright, brown and brittle. Underground the rhizome is still alive and waiting.

Plants it is confused with

Bindweed twines around whatever it can reach. Dogwood has woody stems and curved leaf veins. Himalayan balsam has pink flowers and favours damp ground, such as the Sankey canal banks. If you are unsure, send a photo.

The short answers

In brief

What does Japanese knotweed look like?

Hollow, bamboo-like stems with purple or red speckles, growing in a zig-zag from node to node. Leaves are shield or heart-shaped with a flat base, up to about 14cm long. Plants reach 2 to 3 metres in summer.

What does knotweed look like in spring?

Red or purple asparagus-like shoots with rolled-back leaves appear from April. They can grow several centimetres a day.

What does knotweed look like in winter?

The leaves drop and the canes die back to brown, hollow, brittle stems that often stay standing through winter. The rhizome underground is still alive.

What is commonly mistaken for Japanese knotweed?

Bindweed, Russian vine, dogwood, lilac, houttuynia and Himalayan balsam are frequent look-alikes. Bindweed twines around other plants; knotweed stands on its own stems.

Found it?

What happens next

Knotweed surveyA site visit to confirm the plant and map the stand.Free knotweed ID from a photoSend a picture and we tell you what it is, for nothing.Knotweed plan for mortgages and salesThe management plan lenders and buyers ask to see.Knotweed from next doorA dated record of where it is and which way it is heading.Knotweed spraying programmeHerbicide treatment across several seasons, with return visits.Knotweed excavationDigging out the stand and its roots in a matter of days.Knotweed root barrierUpright membrane that stops roots crossing a line.Knotweed on building plotsSurveys and removal for St Helens development land.Knotweed for landlordsSurveys and treatment for rented houses and flats.

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