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Bindweed or honeysuckle?

josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
in Problem solving

I have the misfortune to live next door to the national bindweed collection.  I'm friendly with the lady who curates it; she's OK, just doesn't have a flicker of interest in gardening.  Next to her fence I have a square plot, not much more than a square metre, which I use for vegetables.  I decided before I plant them, I'll dig out as much bindweed as I can.  In the corner of this plot is a well-established honeysuckle. 

I'm familiar, all too familiar, with those thick cream coloured bindweed rhizomes, but I don't know what the true roots look like.  I'm getting closer to the honeysuckle, and I'm finding lots of fine, many-branched roots.  I don't want to damage my honeysuckle!  Is there any way of knowing whose roots they are?

I know, you're thinking: "Show us a picture", and I have tried.  I know how to post photographs, I've done it many times in the past, but lately my PC just refuses to do it.

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Any fine roots which don't snap just by looking at them will be the honeysuckle.  You really only need to worry about the rhizomatous looking parts of the bindweed as that comprises nearly all of the root.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Thank you, Bob.  I'm an eejit.  After posting the above, it dawned on me that bindweed roots would be going in every direction; these roots are all leading towards the honeysuckle.
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