Control of Plants Advisory Service

The agricultural advisory staff provide a free service to farmers and the general public on the best methods, both non-chemical and chemical, to control weeds under the Injurious Weeds Act, see the link on the right for more detail.

The 7 weeds currently in the act are spear thistle, creeping or field thistle, curled dock, broad leaf dock, ragwort (cushag), wild oats and giant hogweed. See the injurious weeds page for further information.

It has also been recognised that Japanese knotweed could become a serious problem in the Island especially along watercourses and so advice is also available on the correct control methods. See the Japanese Knotweed page for further information.

Please also see the Environment Agency invasive plants document, (see downloadable documents), which is issued by the UK Environment Agency. The legislation it mentions is not relevant in the Isle of Man but the information relating to the individual plant species is very helpful.