Japanese Knotweed Identification in Winter

During late autumn and the beginning of winter, Japanese knotweed canes die off and the plant becomes dormant. The canes lose their leaves and turn brown in colour. The dead canes often remain standing and may take up to 3 years to decompose. While decomposing, the dead canes will often litter the ground, suppressing competition from native flora.

To help you identify Japanese knotweed click on the video above. You can also scroll further down this page for more identification hints and tips.

Does your property have Japanese knotweed? If you suspect it does, you contact us online using the button below or call us on freephone 0808 231 9218.

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Tips to help Japanese Knotweed identification in winter

When trying to identify Japanese Knotweed in winter, look out for the following:

Brown canes that are more or less decomposing
Canes that are hollow, collapsing and intertwining on top of one another
Quite often, you will see canes from previous years, at a different stage of decomposition, underneath the recent growth
Shoots of next season’s Japanese Knotweed underneath the decomposing foliage

Pictures to help with Japanese knotweed identification in winter

The collection of images below will help with the identification of Japanese Knotweed in winter.

Dead canes
All foliage has died
Roots are still active
Hard to spot in winter

(click on images above for hi-res version)

For additional images, visit our Google image gallery.

More information on identifying Japanese Knotweed

For more information about how to identify Japanese Knotweed, click on the links below.

Not sure if you have knotweed?

If you have a suspicious looking plant growing on or near your property and want to know whether it is knotweed, upload your photos to us directly and we will let you know whether you have knotweed or not.

Free knotweed assessment

Have you seen a suspicious plant and want to know if it is the dreaded Japanese knotweed? Simply click the button below to upload your photos and we will get back to you with an answer.

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