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Gardening

bindweed

(6 Posts)
21again Wed 01-Jun-11 18:38:56

Help! How can I get rid of the bindweed that curls itself round plants, please?

MrsJamJam Wed 01-Jun-11 19:11:17

Put in a cane and train the bindweed up that, and then treat the leaves with weedkiller ( I think Roundup is the one you want, one that gets taken in by the plant and down to the roots). If you try pulling it out, there will always be a little bit of root left and a new one will grow from that. Very annoying!

tjspompa Wed 01-Jun-11 19:12:39

Roundup will kill bind weed. The fence line between my neighbour was full of it. I either shield other plants with pieces of cardboard or un-twine it and lay it where I can get to it. You need to spray it when it is growing strongly. Roundup travels down and kills the roots (nothing obvious happens for several weeks). It has taken me 3 years, it is nearly gone, just a few wisps left, but as I can't spray my neighbours garden, I guess I will have to spray those from time to time.
It is very difficult to dig it out, the roots go deep, and the slightest bit will re-grow.

I now have ground elder, which came in on a plant I was given, the Roundup will hopefully come to my rescue.

Good Luck.

baggythecrust! Wed 01-Jun-11 21:51:04

Be thankful you haven't got Japanese knotweed! Been attacking it with Roundup for five years and it still isn't dead. Struggling but not dead. Maybe another year or two. Good stuff Roundup as it becomes harmless once it hits the soil so you're not causing pollution.

tjspompa Wed 01-Jun-11 22:21:00

BTC, are you using the stronger Roundup ?, are you spraying or injecting it?

I have a perennial plant (deliberately planted by me - idiot !) that is now growing through my roses etc. I am trying the injection routine into the plant stems.

baggythecrust! Thu 02-Jun-11 07:03:53

We've done both. First year we put granular Roundup (which I now can't find anywhere) into the stems after chopping the stuff down. It was six feet high. Since then we have sprayed the leaves each year and each year the shoots are smaller. But Jap knotweed has enormous corm-like roots so I guess they take some killing. Also, the stuff in our garden had been left for 24 years!!!!!!!