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So. Much. Bindweed :(

geum keenbutgreengeum keenbutgreen Posts: 508
in Problem solving

I have a border with very large, well established perennials in it, which sits against a stone wall. It's flipping FULL of bindweed - climbing up and wrapped around pretty much everything. It's even coming through cracks in the wall in some areas.

I'm trying to get as much of it out as I can, but it's almost impossible to get to / see the roots, and the ruddy stuff snaps so easily image

Is there anything I can do now, apart from get off what I can, and then wait until later in the year until everything start dieing down and I can see the base more clearly to dig it out? Is there a trick to getting it out at all?

(asking for the moon on a stick, I know!)

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  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,905

    Poor you Geum. Just keep pulling out every piece you can see. Don't try to dig it out as even the teeniest piece that breaks off will grow. Depending on how accessible some of the stems are, if you cut the top and bottom off a 2L or 1L soft drinks bottle so that you have a big tube, you can slide this over the bindweed stems and then carefully apply or spray a weed killer into the bottle. Leave the bottle firmly in place to protect your precious plants until the bindweed dies. This is a time consuming process but eventually it should help.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601

    The moon and the stars! Some people use chemicals and will doubtless contribute to this thread. I prefer to pull it up at every opportunity. Think of it as a lifetime companion. You are unlikely to eradicate it entirely but you will grow used to its being there....

  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150

    I've never had to deal with it (thankfully) but think I've read on the forum that you should carefully untangle it from the other plants and try to gather the stems together away from your other plants so you can spray it with glysophate.

    Best to hang fire before taking action on my advice though, hopefully someone else can advise you better (I'm just repeating something I think I may have read) 

  • geum keenbutgreengeum keenbutgreen Posts: 508

    Thanks all! Ugh, looks like it's a typically long battle...

    Ladybird, when you say 'pull up not dig out', is is less likely to break by being pulled straight out of the ground then? I don't seem to have had much luck with this so far... (but I am hamfisted)

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,905

    If you pull it out as opposed to trying to dig it out, the stems will snap off but the roots will remain undamaged which is preferable to being all broken up if you try to dig it out. Constant pulling will weaken the plant too.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • geum keenbutgreengeum keenbutgreen Posts: 508

    Ah, I understand,thanks Ladybird :)

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,905

    You're most welcome image

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • TooeyTooey Posts: 95

    I did blitz the big infestations in my garden with weedkiller which got rid of the worst of it but I now just pull and hoe the shoots out. It's weirdly a therapeutic job image 

  • Lou12Lou12 Posts: 1,149

    Don't let it grow big enough to wrap around anything. I live in a bindweed area and if I go through the beds thoroughly every week and pull up all the bindweed I see it eventually weakens and you get a lot less. It's always worse in spring and early summer. Tends to get a bit better from July onwards.

  • Lou12Lou12 Posts: 1,149

    Do you live on the moon Kitty2 - no bindweed? :-o

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