I manage a school garden and noticed this popping up tonight. It was a handful of these sprouts plus a few about a yard away and a football sized clump of roots in the middle that all of the roots led to. I brought a garbage bag over, carefully dug up all of the rhizomes I could, and threw them away. About 2.5 feet under the football sized clump I accidentally broke the root and couldn’t dig around it any further to get it out (I was digging with my hands to avoid breaking the rhizomes into little pieces with a shovel).
I now know I should have just let this grow until September then spray it!!!
So my question … is it likely to sprout back in the same spot? Or is it more likely to send runners out away from this spot? This bed has grass on one side and an overgrown wooded area on another … the grass is only about 3 feet away but it’s cut by a lawn service so if the JKW sprouts there it’ll keep being cut. And if it grows in the overgrown area it’ll be really hard to spot/reach.
I’m just wondering what my management strategy should be from here. Do I draw a circle 20 feet around where I found these shoots and do my best to forbid any trimming or pulling of anything? Or is it more likely that it will sprout back up right here? I have lots of well-meaning volunteers pop by and help weed the garden beds so it’ll be work to make sure it’s left alone long enough to spray!