Bindweed :(
NickyB
Posts: 69
Hi everyone!
Moved to this house Autumn 2012 (fell in love with the garden and primarily the huge willow tree
)
Last year I spotted some bindweed so dug up what I could and read up on it.
We have a large lawn with borders and then an allotment at the bottom of the garden with 12 beds and fruit trees.
The BW is in pretty much every part of the garden.
I have made it my mission to try and remove it from the allotment first as we have raised beds so when they were empty I dug them over and pulled out every tiny speck of root that I could see and burned it. I have also treated any that I couldn't get to with the touch gel which seems to have killed off the plants but unfortunately not the root as its just springing up another.
At the moment I am spending 30-40 minutes a day removing BW and then hours at the weekend. Please tell me that it will take the hint and that I will get through to it?
I am contemplating completely weedkilling the allotment beds once all the veggies are done at the end of the year.... will this work? :-/
Darn stuff!!!
Posts
We have some that encroaches from neibouring land, i've tried digging out, and it just come back, so i think realisticly regular applications of glyphosate is the only way to get rid of it, and probably will take a few years to make sure all the seeds are gone.
A good way to hit it hard is to stick canes in the ground where it grows to let it grow up in then glyphosate it before it flowers. Probably with a couple of applications.
Oooh good idea... it does love the canes on my peas, beans and mangetout!! Darn stuff! Thanks !!
Don`t bother trying to pull or dig out roots of Bindweed as every minute bit you leave will produce more Bindweed shoots. The answer to the problem is to unwind every shoot wrapped around your shrubs, herbacious plants, etc. and without detaching the shoot, make a pile of the shoots and leaves and `blast` them with SYSTEMIC weed killer, eg. the new Weedol Root Kill Plus or Westlands Resolva 24H Action.
Last year I had mounds of Bindweed coming through, under and over the fence and using this technique I killed the whole lot in 2-3 weeks. But remember, DO NOT detach the leaves or stems from the roots, it must be the roots you kill.
When I moved here, the bindweed was so rampant it was covering a wall 20' long and 15' high, as well as scrambling though all the borders. I dug out miles and miles of roots, but am lucky that my soil is very light and free draining - in anything heavier, it would have been impossible. Now I get the occasional wispy bit poking up, which I immediately nip off thinking that chlorophyll deprivation will nobble it.
I think I tried glyphosate a couple of times, but found that elbow grease was more effective in my situation. Probably a combination of both would be best for you. It can be done, but takes time, persistence, vigilance and determination. Good luck!
Best way I found is to use bamboo/bean canes to "train" the bindweed. Then either drizzle glyphosate down the cane or use Roundup gel to dot on the leaves. If it's in a herbaceous bed then the gel is he best solution. Digging is pointless as the roots are usually between 1 and 5 metres deep.
this weed has it got a prity white flower on it but a pain to get rid of my garden is stacked with it
Slightly different method...Grow up canes, take cane out, stuff bindweed in glass jar add your poison, lie it on its side on soil so rain can't get in...It has to take up poison!
Similar to my suggestion Addict. The weed killer must be in contact with the leaves and osmosis will do the rest. Only 5 days ago I had another growth of Bindweed through the fence, immediately unwound the stems with the leaves (not touching the roots) and `blasted` them with systemic weedkiller. In 5 days the Bindweed is dead - as quick as that!
I have it in amongst my runners and peas. I am letting it grow for the time being (removing the flowers) and then am going to blast it with glyphosate in autumn. I know it's not organic but I can't control it. I'm waiting till autumn for two reasons:
1 - I don't want my runners and peas to die off
2 - In autumn the plant will naturally take the weedkiller back to the roots in preperation for winter.
THE WAY I GOT RID OF IT, I DUG DOWN ABOUT A FOOT REMOVED AS MUCH OF THE ROOT AS I COULD THEN EVERYTIME I SAW IT COMING BACK I JUST KEPT ON PULLING IT UP AND EVENTUALY IT GAVE UP PLUS MY NEIGHBOUR WAS DOING THE SAME THE OTHER SIDE