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Resuscitating the Landscape: One Vanier Student’s Crusade Against the Japanese Knotweed News 

Resuscitating the Landscape: One Vanier Student’s Crusade Against the Japanese Knotweed

By his own admission, Kenneth Hilliam is not a scientist, but he’s hoping to get the attention of someone who is. While browsing the internet this past summer, he came across an article about Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant native to the Far East that has made its way to the island of Montreal. What’s more, he knows exactly where it’s growing.

“I found it […] along a bike path between Ville St. Pierre and Lachine. And I said, ‘wasn’t all this stuff cut down last summer?’”

“I went in there about 4-5 feet and I said, ’Oh my goodness, this is Japanese Knotweed.’”

The Montreal Botanical website describes the weed as “A highly invasive plant”, describing it as “hollow stems with raised nodes that resemble bamboo […] In late summer, it produces panicles of creamy white flowers.” The organization explains that dense patches of the plant can crowd out neighboring plants, presenting a serious threat to native species as well as encouraging flooding by clogging bodies of water. It also has a significant presence in Europe and other parts of North America.

Hilliam continued his investigation “I said ‘I’m gonna take my bike path along Maisonneuve Boulevard [Ouest] […]. I saw it at Beaconsfield, Hingston, Madison, […] huge piles coming over the fence as you’re going east to Vendome[…] d’Oxford, Marcil, Old Orchard and Girouard.” The list goes on.

“People aren’t even aware of what this thing is.”

That’s what Hilliam is looking to change. According to him, Vanier represents a wealth of untapped potential, and while he’s keeping his own ideas a secret, he believes the solution to the infestation could come from one of the school’s own students. Currently, he’s working to drum up interest among the faculty, and by extension, the students. Hilliam maintains, “that this is something the people who are more knowledgeable, in charge and responsible, should look into.”

According to Hilliam, there may even be potential beyond the collegiate level. “From what I see, when I went to some of the science fairs at Vanier, they’ve got a lot of bright minds there in high school.”

A concrete solution may still be lacking, but there are things everyone can do for the time being. The Botanical Gardens strongly emphasize that Japanese Knotweed “should never be grown” and that if one encounters the weed they should “cut the stems off at ground level several times over the growing season, to exhaust it. Do this for a number of years.”

“Don’t try to rip it out, because its rhizomes are very deep and you risk leaving some fragments in the soil. Do not compost any of the clippings and never toss them away! Carefully collect all the clippings, place them in garbage bags and put them out with the trash,” advises the association.

Regardless of whether or not the solution comes from young talent, Japanese Knotweed continues to thrive in Montreal and beyond, and without the awareness and insight needed to fight it, the plant will only continue to spread.

Written By: Ian Down

Photo by: Brittney Sherwood

Originally Published: November 2015

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