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 · Barnton (CW8)

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.

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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.

Japanese knotweed beside a boundary in Barnton, Cheshire
Knotweed in Barnton

River banks, canal edges and old works land.

Barnton is a mix of 1930s and postwar housing between Northwich and the Weaver, with the Weaver Navigation and the river's wooded banks nearby. Riverside and canal-side gardens carry the greatest risk.

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

Also covering the rest of Northwich — same price, same service.

Know the signs

Knotweed as it turns up around Northwich

Canes on a riverside boundary at the back of a Barnton property.
Canes on a riverside boundary at the back of a Barnton property.
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.

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

CW8

Hartford· Barnton· Winnington· Castle· Weaverham and Rudheath

CW9

Northwich town centre· Davenham· Greenbank· Leftwich· Wincham and Lostock Gralam

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

Our Barnton garden backs onto the riverbank. Is that a risk?
It is more exposed than most. Banks are lightly managed, and rhizome can travel on flood-moved soil. Check the bottom of the garden in spring.
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.

Leave the strimmer where it is.

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

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Local notes

Knotweed notes for Barnton

Root-barrier membrane being set into a trench beside a fence.

Barnton's 1930s and postwar housing sits between the town and the Weaver, so gardens near the river and canal edge deserve the closest look. Knotweed tends to appear along banks, behind garages and in the strip between a fence and the water. Check any part of your plot that was cleared, filled or raised in the past. Because river-edge land often has complicated ownership, a plant at the end of your garden may belong to someone else or sit on a shared bank.

If the stand is near water, do not use garden weedkiller yourself: products have to be suitable for use beside watercourses, and rules can apply. Speak to neighbours first, then to whoever manages the bank or towpath. Take photographs and a few measurements from your own side. Anyone buying in Barnton should ask whether neighbours have raised knotweed in the past, since a stand a few gardens away can still matter to a lender.

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