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advice on how to remove plant

Can anyone tell what this is? we've been trying to get rid of it for years but it keeps growing back aggressively, taking over everything we grow, tangling itself to anything... is it a lilac or something? image

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  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906

    Hi Mr Green. It looks very much like bindweed to me. Does it have white flowers? As you describe it as 'tangling itself......' that is what I suspect it is. Any tiny broken off root section will regenerate. If you treat it now with a powerful weed killer you may begin to get it under control. Persistent hoeing of the top growth will eventually weaken the roots but it will take some time and patience. There is more useful information on this link:

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=241

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016

    It doesn't look like a bindweed leaf to me, but I can't say what it is either.  Most plants succumb to repeated spraying with glyphosate.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    It does resemble lilac, suckers from a previous bush?

    But lilac doesn't tangle or wind itself round other plants

    More info required

    Size?

    Evergreen or deciduous?

    Woody at the base?

    Self supporting or falls over?

    Flowers?



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • MrGreenMrGreen Posts: 3

    Tunis for the response: 

    what ever it is, my Grandfather planted it 25 years ago. It does not flower, it just keeps on growing, flat and spreads. It has a big strong woody base. We've dig it out before with great effort, put some kind of poison on it, but still it grows back. 

    It naturally dies back in Autumn and regrows in March. 

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I think it could be suckers from a lilac. I got rid of one by cutting it right back to the ground and building a compost heap over it to stifle it. You may not want a compost heap there but could it be covered with something?

    I'm not a user of chemicals but used at this time of year I would have expected glyphosate to clobber it.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906

    How very curious. The leaves are heart shaped - like Lilac - but I have never seen that sort of flat, spreading growth from Lilac before.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I have ladybird. It's what happens if you cut it all down and the roots keep growing



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906

    Thanks for that nut. It was the 'tangling itself to anything' that rather threw me.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    It looks like lilac to me too. A combination of digging out what you can and weed kill on the rest. Keep as much on the growth as you can to let the weed killer do its job. 

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • MrGreenMrGreen Posts: 3

    Thanks for your responses. l have never see a lilac that doesn't flower? 

    We have a cat, so I dont think poison would be animal friendly. Creating a compost heep might be the answer. 

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