One United Kingdom-based homebuyer recently backed out of a deal after discovering a nightmarish invasive plant on the property. They shared their experience with the r/Mortgageadviceuk subreddit.
"Found a house I really like and had an offer accepted 3 weeks ago," the poster wrote. "The [estate agent] immediately warned me that Japanese knotweed was on the neighbouring property but there was a plan in place to deal with it and have forwarded me a report that proves none is on the property boundary … How worried should I be about the knotweed?"
After receiving several replies in the vein of "You should be extremely worried," the poster followed up, writing: "Decided to pull out today after my folks came for the second viewing. Thanks for all your replies, I was clearly underestimating the issue. I've seen somewhere close by that needs much less work so [fingers crossed]."
Japanese knotweed, like many invasive plant species, was originally introduced to the UK as an ornamental but quickly displayed a propensity for spreading out of control once outside its native environment. It is known for growing to incredible heights in a short amount of time, crowding out other plants, and being very difficult to remove.
According to the UK's Royal Horticultural Society, it is possible to remove Japanese knotweed, but doing so may take four years and involve the use of dangerous glyphosate-based weed killers. Glyphosate, the active herbicide in products like Roundup, is toxic to almost everything it comes into contact with — not just the plants you want it to eradicate. It has also been linked to cancer in humans.
"Would not touch this property," wrote one commenter, responding to the original post about the knotweed.
"Don't go near it. We rented a place where all the neighbouring properties visibly had it but ours didn't… we still had to keep relentlessly on top of it," wrote another.
Taking all of that into consideration, it is not surprising that this homebuyer decided to back out rather than deal with this pernicious plant.
Whenever you are getting a new plant for your yard, it is important to ensure you're going with native species, which support local pollinators and the ecosystem and won't lead to massive headaches and expensive treatments down the road.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
