Ya gurl has Japanese knotweed, tiger lilies, creeping charlie, AND creeping bellflower in her yard. 🫠

With the black plastic I find that they will migrate to the edges and peek out, no matter the distance. The key seems to be some kind of downward lip, maaaaybe even having some space, idk

i think as long as there is a firm fixture or lip into the soil at the edge, any shape of total light-blocking works. Last year I experimented with using cookie tins for larger patches and it worked a charm! The tin cans are actually the more targeted approach I’m using this year for when it is in the garden bed /o\

To get it #allgone, I’d dig a shallow ( really, like 1-2”) trench around the area and lay down landscaping fabric, taping at the seams. Wait two years. …. seriously. Anything less than that and it will get through. layer of cardboard. dirt… in 2 years it’ll be like you did nothing at all. Pulling it out, even carefully trying to get all roots, it labor intensive and only keeps it from spreading, does not get rid of it.

(put the fabric down into the trench around the edges and refill with dirt to hold it down tight

You can always copy me, I was impatient – double layer of cardboard. 6” of mulch, tincan where it comes up

Very gently loosen the soil and locate the root, following it down to a single runner* and then some. Tuck what you’ve uncovered into the can, seat the can and backfill

So far, it seems to not send up more exploratory roots/tendrils once it leafs out at a node. Reinvests in the leafed node.

“As opposed to removing part but not all of the plant, which triggers some metabolic response that’s like “omg where did my solar panel and connectors go, must send out more wiring and grow new stems” - the same auxin, apical dominance 🦧, cytokinin dance that guides other pruning strategies….””

“Tenacious infiltrators who thankfully habitually reveal their underground bunker locations”

(You will need many tin cans, spoilers. Like 100)