“There’s bindweed in here”
As gardeners, garden designers and garden consultants, we see a lot of weeds during our working week. At Plews, we generally categorise a weed as being an invasive plant in the wrong place. It may be an annual weed or a perennial weed.
Our ‘most wanted’ list includes ivy, bindweed, dandelion, nettle, green alkanet, bramble and ground elder. These are all perennial weeds with strong root systems, which is why they’re successful at colonising less cultivated areas of a garden. It’s also why they are difficult and time consuming to get rid of.
We’ve looked at or will be looking at all of these weeds in various blogs. This time we’ll consider just one of them, bindweed, for which there is a linked video on YouTube (see link below).
Bindweed, or not Bindweed?
The bindweed mostly found in gardens is Calystegia sepium, syn Convolvulus sepium, or hedge bindweed, which has white flowers.
A related plant is Convolvulus arvensis, the field bindweed. Convolvulus arvensis has smaller, pink tinged flowers as compared to the hedge bindweed. You’ve probably seen it when on walks in the countryside.
Both make pretty looking climbers, but the common name ‘bindweed’ gives the clue as to why neither of these are good to have romping through your borders!
There is also the ornamental Convolvulus, also known as morning glory, generally sold as an annual climber. Although just to confuse the issue, some of the Ipomoea climbers are also commonly called morning glory.
Without getting too technical, all these climbers are members of the same family, Convolvulaceae. Perhaps think of them all as cousins and second cousins with a common ancestor or grandparent, if that helps. There are other Convolvulus which are shrubs, but we’re just considering climbers here.
Why is Bindweed such a problem?
Bindweed is tricky to get rid of because it entangles around other plants, and a quick yank can pull up your pea plant as well as the bindweed. The stems can strangle clematis, sweet peas, French beans and the new growth on shrubs.
Calystegia sepium is a perennial plant. The roots are white, regenerate from the smallest of pieces and may go down as far as 15 feet. One of the most annoying aspects of this particular weed is that it can sneak into your garden from a neighbours’. Or more likely from a patch of wasteland the other side of the fence. A week’s holiday could mean you return to bindweed as an uninvited guest. But don’t be disheartened. There are different methods of removal. Just be aware that these could take two or more years, depending on where the weed is coming from.
Ways to get rid of Bindweed
Digging out roots from an otherwise uncultivated border can take some time but is worth the effort. Once you’ve dug up as much of the bindweed roots as you can, lay membrane over the area. You’ll need to revisit and repeat, but it will have an impact and reduce the bindweed incursion.
This is fine for a border which is not otherwise being cultivated for productive or ornamental plants. But what if you spot bindweed growing through your forsythia, sweet peas or runner beans?
- Paint the young leaves with an organic herbicide early in the season
- Pull out stems as soon as they’re spotted in the border
- Where the bindweed is coming from a neighbouring garden or wild area on the other side of your fence, a good trick is to put sticks in the ground next to where it’s coming in. The bindweed will twine around the sticks making it easy for you to see and remove it
- Where the weed has twined around other plants, snap the stem off near the ground, let it wilt and loosen its hold and then gently pull
- Watch this YouTube video for some hints and ‘how to’ techniques.
And when you’ve pulled up and dug out stems, leaves and roots, remember not to put them directly into your compost bin! But they can be turned into a fertiliser tea or liquid feed. See the blog link below for more on what this is and how to make your own liquid fertiliser out of annoying weeds.
And finally
And if you feel a personal visit would be beneficial for you and your garden, do please get in touch to ask about our design and consultancy services. Marie is a member of the Professional Garden Consultants Association.
We also offer a mix of practical sessions and theory in our bespoke Gardening Lessons and Courses for those who would like personal guidance to learn how to garden in their own garden. There’s a pdf download to answer some of your questions – Plews Gardening Lessons Information
For further gardening advice and inspiration, ideas for edible gardens, cottage gardens and more, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet You could come and find us on Instagram – @plewsgd Pinterest and Facebook too.
And on that note, you can have a peek at my new garden in the Instagram account @spitfiresandslowworms and for those of you who prefer Facebook – Spitfires and Slow Worms
Related Gardening articles you may enjoy from our Award Winning Blog
Making Liquid Fertiliser from Weeds
Weeds – Ground Elder
Nettles – Weed or Herb?
Plus Plews YouTube video on Bindweed removal
