South Haven Dealing With Japanese Knotweed

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japaneseknotweed-3

Japanese knotweed has been a problem for a few years in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, and now the invasive plant is in South Haven. City officials in the Van Buren County city have identified 13 locations where the plant has been found and are working to educate people about not trying to remove it. The city will be working on eradication by hiring a qualified contractor this fall. The plant can have roots ten-feet deep, and using normal weed killing chemicals only causes it to get stronger. New signs have been put up in South Haven helping people identify the plant and warning them to stay off of it and not cut it down, as that causes it to spread faster. The BBC reported in April that the largest study to date, done in Wales, determined there is no currently available method to get rid of Japanese knotweed.