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Novice Gardener - Weed Identification Please
MagnaBlue
Posts: 3
Just moved into my new home and this weed is growing in my garden.
One neighbour thinks it may be knotweed! Another thinks it's bindweed.
I want to identify it, and any recommendations on how to get rid of it would be much appreciated.
(I have other photos of the weed if required)
0
Posts
Bindweed
Yup! Bindweed
Many thanks for the replies, very relieved it is 'just' bindweed and not JK.
There's a load in next door neighbours overgrown garden so I suppose all I can do is try and control it on my side.
Treat with glyphosate?
Definitely bindweed and can be difficult to get rid of
There are various methods to try including weed killer - a Glyphosate product is essential if you're going to spray. You could dig it out BUT if you leave any root in (even a tiny piece) it will regrow. If it's in one particular area, take out any plants you want to keep (washing the roots carefully to get rid of any bindweed root caught up in them) and then cover the ground with black weed suppressant. It'll be slow but this works. The main thing is never let this plant flower and seed or you will have big problems. Personally, if it's a small area I favour repeated digging out because over time you will weaken it to the point of killing it but you have to be vigilant for new growth. If it's a big patch, put weed suppressant over it. Good luck.
Hedge bindweed, it is easy to control. Get a bottle, half fill with glyphosate, half bury in the ground, get bindweed stems, crumple the leaves, then shove leaves and stems into bottle. After a few months it will die back. As you say, you cannot kill it if it comes from next door. If you have lots emerging on your side, you can dig out the roots. There may be a lot, about 6-12" down, growing horizontally. Don't compost the roots. You can get glyphosate on ebay.
Dig out as much root as you can to weaken it. Treat any regrowth with glyphosate.
thanks very much for all the replies, great info
It can be dug out if you have the time and inclination. We had bindweed rife at the top end of our garden four years ago. I dug several bin bags of roots out and have not had any re growth (and I don't claim to have removed every piece). The received wisdom that every bit of root left behind will regrow is probably a bit wide of the mark. Every piece left behind has the capacity to regrow but not all will as they won't all be valid.
If you have the time and energy to dig and use glyphosate combined you can minimise any re growth quite effectively.
Good luck with whichever method you go for
Very very hard to get rid of. I have a lot of it on my allotment and glyphosate has yet to touch it and have applied it 3 times so far, and the first time I sprayed it last year I also covered it with weed fabric for the winter but it still survived. I have read tho it can be killed using glyphosate eventually, it just takes a lot of applications.
I have also been recently digging it up, the roots are a nightmare, and the few pieces I have missed are already resprouting. I dug over my beds the other day (2 weeks on from really clearing it) and found a few bits regrowing deep under the soil. The bits I missed were small too.
i guess time, patience and determination will eventually mean you will win! Best of luck!
Agree with most of above but to add, because bindweed spreads by it's roots, a Glyphosate product will only kill the roots in proportion to that which is covered by the product above ground. If you decide to treat bindweed with Glyyphosate, by letting it grow above ground up a cane to the point of nearly flowering you'll kill more root underground.
Digging out the roots, means some will break off but as they start to regrow, pushing up new shoots, if dug out with a trowel as tiddly weeds you start to clear the ground of bindweed and aren't letting it take a hold underground again.
Hope this is helpful.