Free photo check · Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat mornings · Bolton, Farnworth, Horwich and Westhoughton
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Surveyor beside a Bolton terraced street checking rough ground for knotweed
Japanese Knotweed Removal · Little Lever (BL3)

Is that tall red-speckled plant by your Bolton fence knotweed? Message us a photo. We will tell you for free.

Checking a photo costs you nothing. When it turns out to be knotweed, we come and survey it, set out the options for spraying or digging it out, and write the report your lender or solicitor needs to see. Surveys from £275.

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Free photo ID check Survey from £275 Plans accepted by mortgage lenders
Dealt with fully
Dealt with fullyCleared ahead of extensions, sales and groundworks, not just cut back.
Spot it in spring
Spot it in springRed-purple tips pushing up beside a wall, a gatepost or a garage from April.
Every district
Every districtFrom Great Lever and Heaton to Farnworth, Horwich and Westhoughton.
No charge until we know

Most of the plants people photograph for us are not knotweed at all.

Snap one leaf, a bit of stem and the whole plant if you can. We answer without sending a bill. We only suggest a visit when it really is knotweed, and you see the price in writing before anything is booked.

Why waiting costs more

A bare patch in winter does not mean it has gone

The canes die back and turn brown from October, and the border looks tidy. Below ground the rhizome carries on. Come the spring it returns wider than before.

Deal with it earlyA young, small stand is the cheapest kind to treat.
£275
Let it beIt creeps toward the wall, the shed and the next garden.
Bigger job
A valuer spots itThe lender may hold the mortgage until a written plan arrives.
Weeks lost
Strimming it yourselfEach scrap of root that lands in soil can grow into a new plant.
£££££
The survey price is the one printed on this page. Treatment is priced in writing once we have looked at the stand, and never on the doorstep.
£275 · One visit, one price Written quote before any work

✓ What that buys

Inside every survey:

  • The plant confirmed in person, not guessed from a picture
  • The edge of the stand paced out, plotted and photographed
  • How far it sits from the house, drains, sheds and boundaries
  • A written report a lender or conveyancer can act on
  • Prices side by side for spraying and for digging out

— What you never get

Things we do not charge for:

  • Looking at a photo, even if the plant is harmless
  • Mileage to any address in the Bolton borough
  • Surprise extras after you have agreed the price
  • Excavation where spraying would be enough
  • A copy of your own report

Reports follow RICS guidance on Japanese knotweed and residential property. Take it to any contractor you like.

Japanese knotweed on a bank in Little Lever
Knotweed in Little Lever

Old mill land, river banks and railway cuttings.

Little Lever is a small mill town east of Bolton on the Irwell, with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal line, Nob End and the Croal and Irwell valleys all close together. Many streets are 1930s estates and older terraces overlooking the river land.

A survey shows whether it started in your garden or has crossed from the plot beyond the fence.

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

Learn what to look for

What knotweed looks like around Bolton

Canes beside the old canal line behind a Little Lever garden.
Canes beside the old canal line behind a Little Lever garden.
Red-purple spears breaking through block paving by a garage.
Red-purple spears breaking through block paving by a garage.
A summer stand on a canal embankment, with a stone bridge beyond.
A summer stand on a canal embankment, with a stone bridge beyond.

Not sure it is knotweed?

Send a photo through the contact page or give us a ring. Knotweed or not, you get a straight answer and no invoice.

Send a photo
Bolton borough, from Great Lever and Heaton out to Farnworth, Horwich and Westhoughton

Bolton areas we cover

BL1

Heaton· Astley Bridge· Halliwell

BL2

Breightmet

BL3

Great Lever· Little Lever

BL4

Farnworth· Kearsley

BL5

Westhoughton

BL6

Horwich

Addresses across BL1 to BL6, plus Bromley Cross (BL7), covering the town centre and every district out to the moors and the Wigan and Salford borders. We work out of Bolton, so a visit anywhere in the borough can normally be booked inside the same week.

Before you ring

Questions we get asked

Our Little Lever garden overlooks the old canal line. Should we check for knotweed?
Yes, it is sensible. Canal beds, towpaths and river banks are lightly managed and the plant moves along them. Look at the back boundary in spring and in July.
How do I know if it is Japanese knotweed?
Start with the stem: hollow like bamboo, flecked purple and bending in a zig-zag at every joint. The leaves are shield-shaped with a flat edge where the stalk joins, and in late summer it throws up sprays of cream flowers. Old brown canes can stand through the whole winter. Sending us a photo is quicker than comparing pictures on your phone.
Is it illegal to have knotweed in my garden?
No, owning land with knotweed on it is not an offence. The law is broken if you let it spread into the wild, and soil or cuttings count as controlled waste. If it moves into a neighbour's garden, they may be entitled to bring a claim against you.
Will knotweed stop me getting a mortgage?
It does not rule one out. Plenty of lenders will go ahead if there is a professional survey, a treatment plan and an insurance-backed guarantee that can pass to the buyer.
How long does treatment take?
Most spraying programmes run for three to five growing seasons, with monitoring afterwards. Digging it out takes days rather than years, but the bill is a good deal higher.
Can I just dig it out myself?
We would not. Small fragments of rhizome regrow, and the soil cannot go in your wheelie bin or be taken to the household waste site.
Does knotweed damage houses?
It pushes into weak spots such as cracks, old drains, paving and lightweight outbuildings. Good foundations are rarely harmed, but a stand close to the building can still knock value off or hold up a sale.
What if it is coming from my neighbour?
Book a survey so the position and direction of travel are recorded. That report is what you show the neighbour, the landlord or whoever owns the plot next door.

Leave the strimmer where it is.

Sending a photo is free. The report belongs to you. We agree the price before we lift a spade or a sprayer.

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Local notes

The canal line, Nob End and the river land

Barrier membrane being fixed upright in a boundary trench.

Little Lever lies on the Irwell, close to Nob End and the old Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal line. Many streets are 1930s estates and older terraces overlooking the river land. Canal beds, towpaths and river banks are managed lightly, and root fragments move along them, so back boundaries that face them deserve a look each spring and in July.

Land along the canal and river belongs to several different bodies, so finding the right one to contact can take time. A survey of your own side records where the plant is and how far it extends. For sellers, a management plan ready in advance helps avoid a stall at the valuation stage.

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