East Carmarthenshire · High pressure
Llanelli, Burry Port & the Amman Valley
The Millennium Coastal Park and Loughor estuary fringe carry balsam and knotweed, and the old coalfield valleys of the Amman and Loughor are classic knotweed corridors. Covered by Carmarthenshire County Council on council land.
Streets and places to watch
- Llanelli
- Burry Port
- Pembrey
- Kidwelly
- Bynea
- Llangennech
- Cross Hands
- Ammanford
- Llandeilo
- River Loughor
These are the corridors where growth is most often recorded — lane walls, verges, brook banks and cleared plots. Individual gardens are not listed.
Towns, villages and places in this area
Each place has its own local guide with a map, area facts and the plants to watch for.
What grows here
Japanese knotweed
Swansea is one of the worst-affected places in Britain. Knotweed dominates back lanes, railway embankments, riverbanks and derelict plots across the city, and it is the weed most likely to affect a mortgage or a sale.
Shoots March–April, peak growth June–August, canes die back brown in winter
Himalayan balsam
The pink-flowered annual that lines almost every stream in Swansea. One plant throws up to 2,500 seeds and the seed floats, so a single upstream patch reseeds miles of bank.
Germinates March, flowers June–October, dies back with first frost
Japanese rose
A thorny dune invader. It binds and over-stabilises mobile sand, which is exactly the wrong thing for Swansea Bay and Gower dune systems that depend on bare sand.
Flowers June–September, hips autumn