Garden Q&A: How to tackle the giant issue of hogweed plants

We have a lot to thank the Victorians for. Introducing Heracleum mantegazzianum or giant hogweed to our countryside from their ornamental gardens is not one of them. 

Enormous at between three and five metres high, it's quite a lovely looking perennial with notched leaves and large clusters of creamy white blossoms. 

You might be mistaken for thinking it’s a fortunate moment if it turns up waving in the breeze in a damp corner of your garden if you live close to a river. 

It can have up to 50,000 seeds per plant and each plant can live between three and five years, and heads-up, it just loves the conditions in our rainy little country. 

Ensure you know the toxicity level of all the plants in your garden in case they are touched or ingested by children or animals, and if you spot what you think might be giant hogweed, warn the children off it immediately. 

Just brushing off the armoured hairs of this type of hogweed can produce painful blisters on the skin (phytophotodermatitis) which can in some cases last as scarring for years. 

The plants are invasive and will have to be treated with a hazardous chemical (wearing protective gear) to kill the plant off and re-treatment can take four to five years. 

Tape the area off, and take advice from your local garden centre before taking any action.

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