Photo ID free · Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat mornings · Northwich, CW8 and CW9
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Surveyor walking a Northwich garden boundary marking knotweed with canes
Japanese Knotweed Removal · Northwich

Strange canes coming up near your Northwich home? Message us a photo and we will tell you if it is knotweed.

Checking a photo is free. When it is knotweed, we come out to survey it, arrange spraying or excavation, and supply the paperwork a mortgage lender or conveyancer asks for. Site surveys from £275.

Free photo ID check Survey from £275 Plans accepted by mortgage lenders
Stands dealt with
Stands dealt withTreated or removed ahead of extensions, sales and groundworks.
First signs
First signsRed-purple spears in a border, a drive edge or beside a fence mark the start of the season.
Across CW8 and CW9
Across CW8 and CW9From Castle and Greenbank to Hartford, Davenham, Barnton and Weaverham.
Check first, spend later

A good share of the plants people send us turn out to be something else.

Snap one leaf and one piece of stem, then send them in. You get an answer for nothing. We only suggest a visit if the plant is knotweed, and you see the price in writing before you agree to anything.

The case for acting early

Left alone, knotweed just keeps expanding

When the canes turn brown in winter it looks as though the problem has passed. It has not. The rhizome carries on underground and the patch is wider every spring.

Deal with it nowA young, small patch is the cheapest to treat.
£275
Wait and seeIt moves under the lawn, the drive and the boundary.
Bigger job
Found during a saleThe lender may hold the mortgage until a plan exists.
Weeks lost
Hacking it backA few leftover fragments are enough to regrow.
£££££
The survey fee is shown on this page. Treatment is quoted in writing once we have seen the site. No prices are agreed on the doorstep.
£275 · One visit, one price Written quote before any work

✓ What that buys

Included in the survey:

  • On-site confirmation of the plant
  • Size, position and spread recorded with photos
  • How far it sits from the house, drains, fences and neighbours
  • A report written for a lender or conveyancer
  • Costed choices: spraying, excavation or a barrier

— What you never get

Things you are never charged for:

  • Looking at a photo, even if it is a harmless plant
  • Mileage within Northwich and the surrounding villages
  • Surprise add-ons after the price is agreed
  • Excavation when spraying would do the job
  • Your own copy of the report

Reports are laid out the way lenders expect to see knotweed recorded on residential property. Take it to any contractor you like.

Developers, builders and landlords

Knotweed on Northwich development land and rented homes

Former works land, riverside plots and older rented terraces are where a hidden stand can turn into a delay. We survey the site, produce the method statement and arrange the treatment or dig-out.

Getting rid of it

Spraying, excavation and root barriers around Northwich

A spraying programme where there is time, excavation where there is not, and a barrier when the stand is on the wrong side of the boundary. All waste is taken away with the right paperwork.

Why people ring us

Call us if this sounds familiar

Most Northwich enquiries start with one of these.

The garden meets a river, canal or railway bank

The garden meets a river, canal or railway bank

Plots beside the Weaver, the Trent & Mersey or a rail embankment get the most exposure. The survey shows how much has come over the boundary.

Purple spears in spring

Purple spears in spring

From around April, reddish shoots pushing out of a border, a gravel strip or the foot of a fence are the usual first sign.

Your house is on the market

Your house is on the market

The TA6 form asks about knotweed. Having a plan ready beats scrambling once a buyer's surveyor raises it.

Building work is booked

Building work is booked

Digging foundations through a stand moves rhizome across the plot. Sort it out before the groundworkers turn up.

It seems to be next door's

It seems to be next door's

Perhaps from a rented house, a vacant plot or unmanaged land. You want a dated record of where it is and when you first reported it.

Paving or tarmac is cracking

Paving or tarmac is cracking

Shoots coming up through a drive, patio or path suggest rhizome beneath. Get it mapped before you lay anything new.

Also worth a call: spears pushing up along a canal or river boundary, canes at the back of a Victorian terrace, a question on the TA6 form, a surveyor's note on a mortgage valuation.
Japanese knotweed beside a boundary in Northwich, Cheshire
Knotweed in Northwich

River banks, canal edges and old works land.

Northwich grew up on salt. The town sits where the Weaver and the Dane meet, with the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Weaver Navigation running through it, black-and-white timber buildings in the centre and Victorian terraces in Castle and Greenbank. Out at Hartford, Davenham and Barnton the streets are 1930s to 1970s estates, while Winnington and Wincham carry the history of the chemical works. Riverside strips, old works land, railway embankments and subsidence hollows left by brine pumping all give knotweed ground to take hold before it appears in a back garden.

A survey shows whether the stand started on your side of the boundary or came in from beyond it.

How it works

From photo to plan

Send us a picture.
1

Send us a picture.

A leaf and a length of stem, through the form or by message. Free.

We come and survey.
2

We come and survey.

For a confirmed knotweed stand, we visit, measure it and record what sits nearby.

Choose the route.
3

Choose the route.

Spraying across a few seasons, or digging it out when the date matters.

Paperwork and return visits.
4

Paperwork and return visits.

A written plan for your files and your lender, plus follow-ups until regrowth stops.

Know the signs

Knotweed as it turns up around Northwich

Dense canes on a canal or river bank, with stone and brick edging behind.
Dense canes on a canal or river bank, with stone and brick edging behind.
Spring shoots forcing their way through a block-paved drive.
Spring shoots forcing their way through a block-paved drive.
Spraying a stand once it is in full summer leaf.
Spraying a stand once it is in full summer leaf.
A mini excavator lifting a stand out of a back garden.
A mini excavator lifting a stand out of a back garden.
Root-barrier membrane being set into a trench beside a fence.
Root-barrier membrane being set into a trench beside a fence.
Walking a long back garden to plot where each stand sits.
Walking a long back garden to plot where each stand sits.

Not sure it is knotweed?

Send a picture through the contact page or give us a ring. Whether it is knotweed or not, you hear back at no cost.

Send a photo
Northwich and the villages around it, from Hartford and Davenham to Barnton, Winnington and Weaverham

Northwich areas we cover

Covering the CW8 and CW9 postcodes: Northwich town centre, Hartford, Davenham, Barnton, Winnington, Wincham, Rudheath, Lostock Gralam and Weaverham. Based close to Northwich, so a site visit can normally be fitted in within a few days.

Before you ring

Questions we get asked

How do I know if it is Japanese knotweed?
Start with the stems. They are hollow, rather like bamboo, flecked with purple and kink at every joint. The leaves are shield-shaped with a flat edge where the stalk joins. In late summer there are creamy flower sprays, and in winter the dead canes stay up, brown and brittle. The quickest route is to send us a photo.
Is it illegal to have knotweed in my garden?
No, simply having it is not against the law. Allowing it to spread into the wild is an offence, and anything you cut or dig counts as controlled waste. If it passes onto a neighbour's land, a claim against you is possible.
Will knotweed stop me getting a mortgage?
It does not automatically rule you out. Lenders commonly proceed once there is a professional survey, a management plan and an insurance-backed guarantee that can pass to a buyer.
How long does treatment take?
A spraying programme normally runs for three to five growing seasons, with checks afterwards. Excavation is done in days, though it comes at a higher price.
Can I just dig it out myself?
We would not advise it. Small pieces of rhizome are enough to regrow, and the soil cannot simply go in a skip or the garden waste bin.
Does knotweed damage houses?
It finds its way into cracks, drains, paving and flimsy outbuildings. Solid foundations are seldom harmed, but a stand close to a house can still hold up a sale or lower a valuation.
What if it is coming from my neighbour?
Get a survey done so the position and the direction of spread are written down. That record is what you show the neighbour, their landlord or the land owner.
Should I cut it back or strim it?
No. Strimming throws fragments around and undoes any spraying. Hold off until someone has assessed it.
What do I have to declare when I sell?
The TA6 asks you straight out. If knotweed is present, say so and include the management plan. An incorrect answer can come back on you after completion.
How much does knotweed removal cost?
Spraying a typical garden often adds up to between £1,000 and £3,000 across the programme. Digging out costs more because of the soil and its disposal. Whatever the route, you get the price in writing after the survey.
Do you cover all of Northwich?
Yes — Covering the CW8 and CW9 postcodes: Northwich town centre, Hartford, Davenham, Barnton, Winnington, Wincham, Rudheath, Lostock Gralam and Weaverham.

Leave the strimmer where it is.

Free photo check. Report is yours to keep. Written price before any work.

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