Burnley Borough Council has a consistent approach to the control of the significant invasive weeds.
Himalayan Balsam
Burnley Borough Council takes a structured multi-year approach to the control of Himalayan Balsam. We aim to treat areas with herbicide early in the growing season when the plant is short and then manually pull or cut the surviving plants when they are larger but before they have gone to seed.
Japanese Knotweed
Herbaceous perennial, with stems typically about 2m tall and an extensive system of rhizomes. It has large, roughly triangular leaves with truncate (not cordate (heart-shaped)) bases. For further information and identification instructions visit the non-native species website.
Burnley Borough Council has a list of known locations where this plant is growing and it is typically treated with herbicide twice per growing season.
Giant Hogweed
Aptly named ‘giant’, this umbellifer (member of the cow-parsley family) has flowering stems typically 2-3m, high bearing umbels of flowers up to 80 cm in diameter. The basal leaves are often 1 m or more in size.
The plant produces phytotoxic sap. The sap contains photosensitizing furanocoumarins, which in contact with human skin and combined with UV radiation cause skin burnings. The intensity of the reaction depends on individual sensitivity. The danger to human health complicates eradication efforts.
For further information and identification instructions visit the non-native species website.
How to report Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed
If you identify Japanese Knotweed or Giant Hogweed growing on land owned by Burnley Borough Council, please use What3Words, which is a web based map that produces 3 unique words that represent a 3 metre square, and email Greenspaces and Amenities with the unique 3 word reference. greenspaces@burnley.gov.uk If we establish that this is a previously unknown location, it will be inspected and added to the treatment list as appropriate.