Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
daisie_5denver

What's the best way to get rid of bindweed???

Daisie - 5 Denver
23 years ago

My mom and I have bindweed in our flower beds. They are the worst garden offenders, I think. I've heard that Roundup is the way to go... paint or sponge it on the leaves. Has anyone been successfull at killing bindweed without damaging other plants nearby??? How long does it take??

Thanks in advance,

Daisie

Comments (219)

  • Illona Jensen
    7 years ago

    That's hilarious! I have an orchard of 16 fruit trees, riddled with grass, crabgrass, dandelions and of course, field bindweed. I joked to my daughter, whose home it is, that since she already had a sprinkler, we should plow under the grass and broadcast marigold seeds and have a beautiful marigold "lawn" instead. She didn't take to it very well--lol

  • Golden David
    7 years ago

    By the end of 2015 growing season I think I saw some more effects from the mites - the bindweed appeared heavily stressed. I have high hopes for this season's results.

  • Golden David
    7 years ago

    Otherwise, tactical nukes.

  • mayberrygardener
    7 years ago

    I was all set to get mites from some extension office several years ago (they didn't have it in Broomfield when we lived there) and I never was able to pick them up. Will you be coming to the swap, Golden David, and can you bring some mites with you? I have a great nursery where I could grow many, many more and share with ppl for years...

  • Golden David
    7 years ago

    I haven't made it to a swap yet but not for lack of trying. If I miss another one maybe I can get some infected bindweed to the swap in the mail for you.

  • mathewgg
    7 years ago

    Three years ago when I moved into my new house, my neighbor had a yard so infested with bindweed that her entire lawn was blanketed in white when it bloomed. I suggested the mites to her, more as a curiosity than anything, but she took it to heart and ordered them. Three years later, there is very little bindweed left in her lawn, and what was in my yard has disappeared.

  • mayberrygardener
    7 years ago

    Heck, I'm only in Arvada... I'm sure we could arrange for a pickup once things get warmed up a bit! I was just making the rounds and so far the bindweed is still quiet, but the dandelions sure are roaring! Good thing the chickens eat those...

  • elraja
    7 years ago

    Love this thread that will not die!

  • jnfr
    7 years ago

    As I wrote way back above in years past, out of ignorance I tilled the garden area after we moved into our house in Westminster, the first spring we were there.


    I regretted it, believe me. Instead of veggies in rows I went with small raised beds which are easier to keep clear. The bindweed still shows up.


    In other words, what (mayberrygardener) said.

  • abraham_polk
    7 years ago

    Hello All (sufferers of bindweed),

    I'd like to say "thanks" to all, this is one of the most informative sites on

    • control and
    • (possibly) eradication

    of bindweed I've found yet.

    Can we work together to SUMMARIZE the years of experience found here?

    • What works best, what doesn't work well
    • organic vs. toxic
    • chemical vs. physical
    • home vs. farm
    • etc...

    I take all comments as valuable, and at face value.

    I would be willing to create a simple table/spreadsheet, but would need help populating with data.


    FYI: my own experience:

    I've used Round Up for ~ 10 years, at the suggestion of my neighbor, shortly after I moved in. I apply RoundUp roughly 2-3 sessions a year, several hours per session on a corner of a typical ~5000 square foot residential lot. Bindweed seems to infest only one corner of my lot, and it comes back, strong as ever, every year.

    All my effort is towards keeping the stuff away from my house, as bindweed is known to infest the very wood of your house, and once in, you cannot get it out.

    My neighbor and I share the border of bindweeds range. Bindweed is tough as nails, and I don't want it to reach my home.

    I assume

    • my yard is infested with seeds.
    • I may never rid my yard of it.
    • I can control it.

    BUT boy would I like to _eliminate_ it....

    Any and all replies welcome, pardon my delay replying, I'm probably outside fighting bindweed.

    thank you for your thoughts!

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I don't believe there's any way to "summarize" this thread since everybody has a different idea of what to do with the stuff--ranging from "nothing" to nuclear bombs! But the thing that's worked the best for me, as I said up above in my April 10, 2015 post, is spraying with Weed-B-Gon, which I find to be more effective than RU. Water the infested area really well 24 hours before you plan to spray, so it's sucking everything it can into its roots, then spray and let it sit. Wait a week or two, water well again for a day or two, and then spray again. It'll take some persistence, but, in my experience, it will work--eventually. With the seeds, learn what the seedlings look like when they're still VERY small, and they'll be easy to pull out, especially if the soil is moist to wet. Again, it's a persistence thing! If possible, don't till or turn your soil over--which just brings more seeds to the surface. The seeds are viable for at least 50 years! And if you ARE digging in the area you need to get ALL the roots out--even tiny pieces! The smallest piece of root will grown into a BIG man-eating plant in no time at all!

    I recommend you try the Weed-B-Gon to see if you notice the difference I and other people have seen. And it has the advantage of being able to spray it on grass without killing the grass!

    Are you somewhere out here in the Rocky Mountain west?

    Skybird

  • Illona Jensen
    7 years ago

    Hi, Daisie

    Yes, I have tried using roundup, full strength on bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and the results are decent. You have to protect yourself, as with applying any herbicide or pesticide, by wearing long, thick rubber kitchen gloves. Also cover your legs and arms with long pants and long sleeved shirt and especially wear a mask. Then you also need to know that in the spring the plant is sending its energy UP to grow. Painting the leaves then will not be near as effective as in the fall when the energy is going DOWN to the roots to keep the plant alive during the winter. RISKS: if there is ANY breeze at all, it will damage or kill nearby plants and usually bindweed is twisted all around other plants. As long as it does not rain and wash the pesticide off the leaves, you will see results within 2 days. Although, it says the herbicide only goes down to the root of the leaves you are painting, I still lose some other plants, close by, even when I try to be really careful. I think it took a few months before things would grow there. Roundup is my last choice, but 3rd most effective of the things I have tried. My 2nd most effective and the one I love, I mentioned earlier. The chemical in the roots of most marigolds (Mexican, French and even African), is alleopathic or toxic to bindweed. I have been VERY successful, mass planting marigolds where there is bindweed. I was just out examining my success and it is phenomenal! Only 1 bindweed left in my strawberry bed and my greens bed (4'x16') after one year. I will plant a marigold in each spot after pulling up as much as I can. I am mass planting Sparky marigolds on my 4'x50' row of raspberries, right now. Google bindweed and marigold for more info. The most effective way I have tried, is, if you have time, 6 ml black plastic for at least 1 yr, even 2 yrs over the entire area. I did wipe out morning glory that way in a big garden. I just don't usually leave beds dormant that long. If I could afford it, I would do it over my entire fruit orchard, but its a little pricey, $100 for 100'x20' ft at Lowe's. Good luck! You CAN conquer it! (PS: I am a horticulturist and master gardener, if it helps to know).

  • abraham_polk
    7 years ago

    Skybird, thanks for the recommendation, I will try WeedBGon. I will report results back, might be a few months from now. Might take me that long to make my summary, I think I could attach as a screen shot. I'm in the Seattle, WA area, bindweed seems not to discriminate. Might also plant some marigolds and onions after the WeedBGon. Best!

  • bpgreen
    7 years ago

    Looking back, I called this the thread that never ends almost 10 years ago.

    And yet it still goes on and on my friends.

    For those who are wondering, the fight can be won. I think I saw one bindweed sprout last year. None so far this year. I used Roundup and Weed-B-Gone (actually glysophate and 2,4d since I don't care about brands) to get it mostly under control, then constant puling as soon as I saw it.

    Don't pay any attention to the FB posts equating vinegar with Roundup. Vinegar is a nonselective herbicide, but it only kills top growth. It doesn't kill the roots. If you want to defeat bindweed, you need to kill the roots.

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Nice to see ya poking your head in around here, BP! Hope you'll do it more often!

    This thread "officially" ended [with 150 posts] in March of 2012--but there's no limit on the number of posts anymore, so now it truly IS endless!

    Hope your gardening is going well,

    Skybird

  • bpgreen
    7 years ago

    @skybird, I stopped visiting GW a long time ago for a variety of reasons and started visiting a different lawn care forum (I don't think linking to it is allowed). I don't post much there, either, because my lawn is now mostly native, so I don't fertilize at all, I only water a couple of times a year (and I may need to stop that), and I only mow when needed.

    But I registered with this email address 20 years or so ago and it's still valid. And apparently, I get notified of any necroposting of any thread that I posted on.

    Maybe I should revisit the RM forum here and see what's going on.

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago

    Friendly faces are ALWAYS welcome around here, BP! Seems to me you used to chime in on more than just the "native grass" threads. Actually, it's been really slow around here lately! I'm not sure why, but I keep hoping it'll pick up again.

    I don't know if there's any limit on what you can link here now on houzz! But one thing that's better than the "old" GW is that now you can just copy/paste a link right in your message and it's automatically active. No need to "code" it anymore to make it clickable. Maybe you want to start a Native Grasses thread and try linking it and see what happens. You'll be able to delete the post after you do it if what you're trying to do doesn't work. With as few people as have been around here, I don't know how much response you'd get, but, who knows, you might get some more folks interested in switching to an Alternative Lawn! And you could always update us on more about yours!

    If you don't feel like doing that, just stick your nose in every now and then and see if there's anything posted that you're interested in! One thing about RMG! We still keep it The Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in the West! No dissing allowed! [It's the only forum I post on! Not into angst!]

    BTW, if you go to your settings you can "turn off" all the notifications if you want to.

    Hope to see you at least occasionally,

    Skybird

  • abraham_polk
    7 years ago

    howdy skybird, bpgreen, and others...

    is there a specific Ortho Weed-B-Gon version that you used that worked? I searched Ortho's site, and saw a wide range of products, all under "Weed Control"

    I don't care about brands either, just effectiveness.

    (BP, you mentioned "actually glysophate and 2,4d since I don't care about brands").

    However, I'd gladly pay name brand price for a proven product. Searching Ortho products revealed a wide range of variation under "Weed Control" (link below).

    I'm more than happy to buy the same ingredient from another brand, but plan to try the first time with a proven bindweed killer... (prefer to buy concentrate, and then dilute myself).

    your feedback on this forum is priceless and selfless, I am in your debt...

    http://www.ortho.com/smg/gocat/ortho-lawn-weed-killers/cat50036

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago

    Hi Abe,

    Over the years I've bought anything that says Weed B Gon on it--whatever I can find that's the cheapest. I just looked, and this is what I have now and have been using for the last couple years.

    http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/071549/071549040635lg.jpg

    I use the concentrate and mix it in a 2-gallon pressure sprayer. It's never made sense to me to pay for the "ready to use" stuff and wind up dragging gallons and gallons of water home! I generally mix it pretty close to the directions, but by using the concentrate you can also vary how much you mix in--somewhat.

    I started using it to kill cottonwood and aspen suckers in my lawn, since it doesn't kill grasses, and then discovered that it worked better than RU for dandelions and thistle in my lawn too--which I had been trying to kill with other things for a couple years! They're gone now! Don't have any major problem with bindweed at this house, but where I have used it on bindweed here it's been quite effective. The last place I lived was buried under the stuff and I used RU over and over--to little effect, though I have to admit the stuff was so "dug in" I'm not sure anything could have killed it! (It was a rental house!) But, based on my experience since I found Weed B Gon, in my opinion it works better on all the things I've used it on. I don't ever use RU anymore. (I do use the Ground Clear on your linked page for the cracks in the sidewalk and along the edge of the road where weeds grow in the cracks.)

    You should be able to find it at Kmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, or just about any big box store. Most recently I found a good deal at Murdoch's--but I kind of doubt you have "western stores" up in the PNW! ;-)

    I've never taken the time to look up, or look for the chemical ingredients. Don't know if that's cheaper or not! I just try things till I find one that seems to work for me, and then keep on keepin' on! BP hadn't shown up around here for a LONG time, so I don't know if he'll be back to tell you more about the chemicals or not!

    Hope this helps! Do come back at some point and let us know how it worked for you.

    Skybird

  • bpgreen
    7 years ago

    The forum I visit more often now is http://aroundtheyard.com. I wrote an article for it a few years back about alternative lawn grasses, but I may have to revisit it now, because I'm not so sure I agree with what I recommended at that time (now that the various grasses have had more time to mature, I think my favorites have changed a bit).

  • ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
    7 years ago

    BP, I would particularly interested in any post about native grasses, one of my favorite subjects actually. I definitely DO hope you'll be around more often!

  • Golden David
    7 years ago

    I fired up the propane weed burner to dispatch all the new spring bindweed growth today. Efficacious, maybe. Satisfying as all get out though.

  • dannysmine12345
    7 years ago

    June 28 2016

    Hello All Bindweed Haters....

    I have recently moved into my Dad's old house, where the backyard is infested with the hated BINDWEED.

    My initial reaction was, awww Morning Glory, how pretty, and then the dark cloud of understanding came down. This isnt Morning Glory, this is the Devil'so plant in all of its glory.

    The flowerbeds are full of it , choking off everything in sight. The lawn is full of it, as it twirls it's way around an army of baby Poplars that are popping up everywhere. It's covering the chain link fences, it twines around the Hollyhocks, the hedges, and has even managed to grow it's way under the wall of the old garage and right through the floor.

    This is a weed from evil outer space, and it's been sent down to earth to take over.

    It is a nightmare that haunts my waking hours, and my poor arthritic back screams at me as I bend down over and over... AND OVER to pull out these miserable vines.


    I have read everything on this Forum, and the consensus appears to be , that Weed-B-Gone seems to work on lawns and so on. However, what to do with flowers, shrubs, Raspberry bushes, and Rose bushes that are a tangled mass of thorns, covered with this stuff? Spray, chainsaw, flame thrower ? Any thoughts?


  • mayberrygardener
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    You might try the marigold treatment for those difficult-to-weed areas (let's be honest; they're the "impossible to rid of bindweed" areas) and see how that works. I've been working on "inside the house" projects and so have given very little time or attention to the yard and garden area--and it's out of control. I do have a few marigolds that I could put out there, but haven't worked up the oomph to do it yet.

    Also, if you're able to get your hands on some of the mites, I'd definitely try those as well on the areas that are watered by hand, and then be careful of how they are watered in the future. And if you're in the Denver metro (esp NW, Arvada/Westminster) area and able to figure out how to get some of those mites, please let me know; I'd love to have some to work on my overgrowth. I will not spray weed-b-gone or roundup because we have chickens in our back yard, and would love to add an organic option to my arsenal.

    I think it's less about eradication (although, wouldn't that be nice?) and more about control. I did see a bevy of birds in a neighborhood yard that is overgrown with bindweed, picking at the plethora of vines and flowers. This means the seeds will be regularly replaced by the local fauna, even IF you managed to otherwise "control" the evil stuff for the 50+ years that the seeds are viable. *sigh* I'm going to go get my gloves and pull some more of the evil beast... in small and measured alotments of time, as I, too, have a tender back and arthritic hands that like to remind me that I'm no longer 13 and working in my mother's garden!

    A multi-pronged approach will yield the best results, but put on your armor; it's definitely a battle that will last years.

  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Ortho Weed-B-Gone. Use it when the bindweed is actively growing or storing food for the winter, so spring or fall is best. I've found that it usually takes two applications spaced about 2 - 3 weeks apart to make a dent. I use a hand sprayer to spritz individual plants.

    If the bindweed is in the lawn, wait until about halfway until the next mowing to apply. There needs to be some new growth, and also you don't want to chop off the leaves of the treated plants until the WBG has worked its way into the roots.

    I tried the mites many years ago, but either the mowing or the sprinkler system scared them off.

    I usually pull the bindweed growing around bushes, but if there's lawn nearby, I'll lay the vine on top of the lawn and spray the leaves nearer the growing tip.

    This year I waited too long to start the application (3rd week of June) but am hopeful that persistence throughout the summer will pay off. It's better to lower your expectations - as others have mentioned, it's more about control than total elimination. There's a public park near my house and it's full of those little white and pink flowers....

    This time of year I'm more annoyed with neighborhood cottonwoods, aka 55-foot tall weeds that shed for three weeks and make my yard look like a complete mess!

  • oakiris
    7 years ago

    For those of us that don't wish to nuke our yards, or don't have a backhoe that can dig down 20 feet to get all of the bindweed roots, I think bindweed is just a fact of gardening life here in the western regions. It may be there now - dreadful thought - but it didn't exist in New England when I was growing up, and, like you Danny, when I first saw it here in Colorado, I thought is was pretty! I wondered what the vines with the pretty little pink or white flowers were; everyone seemed to be growing them - and growing them free form too, since they were interspersed throughout the lawn areas and garden beds. Needless to say, I soon found out.

    I have been pulling and pulling and pulling bindweed here in my yard and garden beds for over 20 years. I don't know that I have managed to eradicate much of it, mostly just manage to keep it from overrunning the beds and strangling plants, lol.

    I am really tired of expending my energy on trying to remove bindweed, to be honest, and may consider nuking some areas of my yard at some point. Poisoning bindweed is probably the only way to get rid of it, and even then, it will take years. (And if your neighbors have it - as all of mine do - you really can't ever get rid of it 'cause more will creep into your yard.

    Holly


  • dannysmine12345
    7 years ago

    Thanks for the response.

    I'm up in Alberta Canada, and haven't looked into the 'mites' as yet.

    I think a trip to my Golden Acres Garden Centre is in order (maybe tomorrow) and see if they know anything about these mites. I wonder if they can be ordered on line (?) If I'm down there, I may as well grab some marigolds (good excuse for flower shopping, lol). I wonder what effect marigold spray would have on these demon plants.

    If I didn't live in the city, I would definitely look into the goat idea. We have loads of wild hares in the neighborhood, and some domesticated bunnies that people have sadly tossed out, but they don't seem to be doing much with these plants as far as I can see. The skunk that was in the yard a few mornings ago (and sprayed my silly dog) didn't seem to have any use for these plants either, sigh....


    Ah well, the battle continues.



  • mayberrygardener
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Right, Carlisa, the bindweed mites are prescribed for "non-irrigated" areas, so not in areas where sprinklers will wash them away. I've got areas along my side and back fences that the sprinklers don't hit, so I would love to try some there if I could find some. However, since I won't "nuke" my yard, as Holly mentioned, I just have to live with it in the grassy areas; the chickens do love to eat it, so I always try to pull as much of it as I can before it goes to seed and feed it to them. Being a budding herbalist, I know that there are some herbal uses for the noxious plant, but I hate it so much that I haven't made the effort to discover it (yet!). Those roots go SO deep that I know they're mining minerals from the deep that our depleted garden soils could sure use... but that's a topic for a "sustainable" thread LOL!

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Hi Danny,

    It sounds like you have an awful lot of it, but if you're not against using chemicals, here is a possibility for killing some of it near the flowers and shrubs.

    First, as you've read, the chemical in WBG seems to work noticeably better than what's in Roundup, so I recommend WBG for bindweed and any other weeds you're trying to get rid of!

    Find the "base" of a plant and pull all the vines from that plant together. If they're really long, cut them off 2 to 3' above the ground--that's to leave enough foliage on the plant to apply the WBG to. Then take a plastic bag (I use the non-zip gallon size, but you might need to use some of the smaller "trash size" in your case!) and cut just enough of one bottom corner off that you're able to pull the vine up into the bag. Pull all of the vines, or remaining vines, into the bag and "wrap them around your hand" into a "loose roll." Push the bottom of the bag into the soil so none of the WBG can accidentally get on anything nearby. Then pull the bag all the way up so the vine is completely contained within the bag. Put the nozzle of your sprayer into the bag and saturate the foliage completely. I use a pressure sprayer--I don't know if you could be sure to keep the WBG completely in the bag if you tried it with a hand sprayer! Then I usually "lightly" close the top of the bag--and just wait! It takes a few days for the WBG to start working it's way down into the roots, so have patience. For the well-established ones you have, it will probably take two--or more--applications to seriously start killing the roots! Just leave the bag there, wait a couple weeks and see what's happening, and if you see new growth starting, wait till it's big enough to have "adequate" foliage to apply more WBG to. When doing it in a "contained space" like the plastic bag, and when doing it with a pressure sprayer, it really doesn't take much chemical at all! It always surprises me that a just a couple spritzes, with the pressure from the sprayer, seem to cover the whole thing pretty well!

    Here are a couple pics to show you how I do it! In this case I was killing a thistle that was growing right in the middle of a large perennial! Some people seem to think this isn't possible--that it will kill the "good plant" too--my plant is fine--and the thistle is gone! (And it only took ONE application!)

    https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Ilh2INAPjBhE1nsFp34gMsK0nZGRGfHLEy4-V3DuEj0?feat=directlink

    https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/abquB3E3LFGyx5o5jGytvcK0nZGRGfHLEy4-V3DuEj0?feat=directlink

    I also have a BAD problem with cottonwood suckers coming up all over in my perennial beds, and I do the same thing with them. One time, instead of a plastic bag I used a club cracker box with the bottom flaps folded up into the box, and I left the top flaps open and then folded them over after I sprayed! I've also used a cottage cheese container with the bottom cut out for small things, and I cut the bottom out of a popcorn jar, and that worked well too! With the small opening in that one I could just poke the nozzle of the sprayer into the top and give a couple spritzes! Whatever you use, just be sure the bottom is "firmly pushed into the soil," and be sure the weed is completely contained far enough into the "container" that you can spray and be sure there's no spray coming out of the top! Don't do it on a windy day!

    I do have some serious doubts as to how useful this would be around the raspberries and the roses! But if you could get the vines cut off long enough to spray and get them pulled away from the thorns, possibly?!?!?

    Whatever you do, do your best to keep all the flowers cut off so they're not producing even more seeds! You already have enough "old" seeds to last the rest of your life! ;-)

    I LOVE your mountains up there! Welcome to Rocky Mountain Gardening!

    Skybird

  • marshaaa (5b CO, Castle Rock)
    7 years ago

    Skybird, you are so clever!


  • dannysmine12345
    7 years ago

    Skybird,

    Thanks for the response and the information.

    I will attempt to follow the advice offered.

    I was also considering injecting the WBG right into the base of each plant (including the bottom leaf of each plant), and wonder how that would work. It would be a major task and would take forever (many MANY plants), but I'm curious to see what it will do. I could try one or two plants to test it out in the next few days.

    The mountains are lovely, about an hour drive away from me .

    Gardening here, has many challenges, among them the constantly changeable weather and the clayish soil, and that's only the beginning, lol.





  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    7 years ago

    Just a quick followup. The only way WBG (or RU) works is by applying it to the foliage, and from there the plant "takes it down" into the roots to kill them. The more foliage you can get it on, the more effective it's gonna be, so I don't think applying it just at/around the crown of the plant would do much. Even if you could somehow literally "inject it" into the crown of the plant, I don't think there'd be enough of it to have any visible effect. Having said that, if you decide to try it and it works, I'm pretty sure there are a whole lot of folks around here who would like to know about it!

    Good luck with your battle! I hope you're able to at least start putting a visible dent in some of it--to give you some hope in going forward!

    Skybird


  • dannysmine12345
    7 years ago

    Thanks.


    Elana

  • Justin Branden
    7 years ago

    16 years and going strong!!



    We are dying in southwest Amarillo, TX. All new construction with yards when you move in your home and I've never even heard of this weed being from southern Mississippi. I've honestly read this entire thread this morning and I'll be trying weed b gon. Mainly because we don't know just yet the plans for our yard. Thanks for all the information though. 16 years later and this is still a viable issue.

  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    7 years ago

    Justin, if you're thinking about rototilling at some point, it would be best to tackle as much of the bindweed as you can first, because rototilling can chop up the bindweed roots and new plants can sprout from the root fragments. If you don't have any lawn or other garden vegetation (or HOA regulations) in the bindweed zone, you could cover the affected yard with black plastic to kill the bindweed, but it takes a long time and won't prevent your neighbor's bindweed from eventually growing back into your yard, nor will it prevent existing seeds from germinating once you remove the plastic. Here's a good link to additional info on bindweed: University of California - Field Bindweed

  • oakiris
    7 years ago

    Has anyone actually proven for themselves that rototilling bindweed causes the resulting root fragments to develop into new plants? Just curious - I have read this myself and have passed it on to others as well, but have no idea whether or not it is true. I have heeded the warninnever attempted to rototill

    This is from the article you linked, carlisa, with my emphasis in bold:

    "MANAGEMENT

    Control of field bindweed isn’t easy, and it can’t be accomplished with a single treatment or in a single season. Effective control requires prevention of seed production, reduction of stored carbohydrates by deep tillage of the root system, competition for light from other plants, and constant vigilance in removing top growth. Application of herbicides, which reduce bindweed growth and kill germinating seedlings, can also be part of an integrated pest management program."

    Tilling to damage the roots to prevent them from sucking in nutrients seems to be recommended by more than one state dealing with this awful invader, but if that results in even more plant starts, as seems to be the general consensus, that seems a bit counterproductive.

    So, anyone have personal observations as to what really happens when you rototill a patch of bindweed? It sure would be nice if tilling actually worked..... :-(

    Holly

  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    7 years ago

    Holly, the simple answer is that I don't have personal experience, in part because I've always been warned not to till the bindweed, and in part because the soil in my yard has a lot of clay in it.

    I just did a quick search using Google Scholar, and found an interesting article FIELD BINDWEED CONTROL ALTERNATIVES. It has a number of ideas, including planting pumpkins (!) and also combining farm-style tilling with specific cover crops - the latter probably too ambitious for the weekend gardener.

    Another very interesting document with a lot of bindweed information: Ecology and Management of field bindweed (in Montana). As far as hard-core tilling goes:

    "Tilling. Frequent cultivations reduce field bindweed root reserves and deplete the soil seed
    bank. To be effective, fields should be tilled eight to 12 days after re-growth for three to five
    years. Tilling at the bloom stage when root carbohydrate and nitrogen reserves are lowest may
    be the most effective timing for suppression. A chisel plow encourages re-growth of field
    bindweed. After re-growth, using a sweep plow removes top growth and leaves plant residue on
    the soil surface. Early emerging and fast growing crops will shade field bindweed and reduce its
    re-growth after tilling. Field bindweed increases under reduced tillage or no-till management
    that does not include herbicidal or other control methods. Re-vegetation as soon as practical
    after tilling helps suppress field bindweed re-establishment. If a field is severely infested it is
    recommended that a cover crop or cereal grain be planted and labeled herbicides applied for at
    least one growing season."

    So, it appears that there has been some reported success with specific types of persistent deep tilling, combined with herbicides and cover crops, done at specific times of the year, over the course of 3 - 5 years.


  • dannysmine12345
    7 years ago

    When we're talking tilling, it sounds like something meant for large farm fields, where you have large equipment that can go down really deep.


    Folks that are yard gardeners, don't really have these options.


    My trip to Golden Acres revealed, that we don't have the 'mites' here in Alberta, Canada. Apparently the goverment, is very leary of allowing anything in that may become a pest in the long run, and so.....


    I was told to use something like Keelex, or Roundup on any areas where you want to eradicate anything and everything, and Weed B Gone, in grassy areas. With flower beds and borders and such, I was given the same advice that was mentioned somewhere above here. Rubber gloves with cotton glove on top of it, dip in WB GONE solution and draw the weed through your hand, making sure you don't get the solution on any of your flowers etc.


    Sigh..... so nothing new and exciting to report....

    And so the battle continues

  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Dannysmine, not sure if this will help you or if the mites are only available to farmers, but the Canadian gov't. ag dept. site mentions the mites as a biological control method. Mayhap Golden Acre wants to sell more WBG?

  • mayberrygardener
    7 years ago

    Yes, tilling absolutely will cause pieces buried to become new plants. It will also stir up any seeds and cause them to sprout as well. Our garden beds are, quite literally, living proof.

    Tilling always stirs up whatever dormant weed seeds there are, but in this case, it also causes a healthy enough bit (and let's face it, the stuff is healthy as a weed) to form an entirely new plant. I cannot recommend enough to not till your bindweed.

  • Deb
    7 years ago

    Quinclorac is the most effective chemical that I've found for bindweed. It's one of the active ingredients in Fertilome Weed Out and Spectracide Weed Stop for Lawns Plus Crabgrass Killer.

  • abraham_polk
    7 years ago

    colorado_plantswoman,

    thank you for the advice, I don't think I've seen this recommendation on here or anywhere before (I could be wrong).

    Could you please share specifically what you mean by "most effective"?

    i.e. what was your method of using it, and what were your results? (and if you are so kind, can you compare this to results of other products/methods you tried? for example, have you tried the commonly referred to Roundup and WeedBGon products, or their active ingredients?)

    Again, thank you for your positive contribution to this active and practically historic conversation.

    Best!


  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    7 years ago

    Ortho Weed-B-Gone and Crabgrass Control - ingredients include 2.13% Quinclorac.

  • Deb
    7 years ago

    Abraham, I learned about quinclorac from the head CSU turf guy while attending a master gardener continuing education class. I hadn't had much luck with Roundup. When I spray quinclorac on bindweed, it turns brown and shrivels within a couple of days. Yes, it often comes back eventually because nothing that I know of actually kills the stuff. But quinclorac does a respectable job of keeping it at bay and not allowing it to flower and produce seed.

  • ruzlen
    7 years ago

    I have lots and lots of bindweed all in my pachysandra and have come up with a solution to killing it without killing the pachysandra. I do use round up on the foam spray setting. First I gather up as many strands as I can in one clump andI put in into a slit in paper plate that I have cut one slit to the middle. It opens easily to put the bindweed on the plate . Then I spray it on the plate carefully using the foam setting. When dry I remove the plate and leave the weed for several weeks so it can get dead to the root. I will also try this on creeping Charlie. I have also used canes for the bindweed to crawl up and also tried putting a clump in a Baggie and the spray inside bag with roundup. That works but the paper plate is so much easier.Hope this helps someone else. I feel like I am going to get control after several years and hundreds or thousands of these vines!!

    lenette

  • kandaceshirley
    6 years ago

    Question for the thread that never ends. Some of the bindweed in my yard is looking kind of sickly and the leaves are turning blotchy red. Anyone know what this is and is it a sign I'm finally getting a foothold?

  • ToadKilla _Parker_CO_z5
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    wow. This thread. I googled how to control bindweed and this came up. BW is all over my front yard, creeping up my flower beds on close to front porch, peaking out of concrete cracks. I bet I saw it in toilet trying to climb up some "unspeakable" places. I read through each and every post of this thread.

    I am in Parker and pretty close to Murdoch's. Will try 2,4-d and see what happens. Oh BTW, I let it grow in my yard for two reasons: 1) I hate turf (KBG) as it is just a resource hog. I used to believe everything that is green is okay to be in lawn and that "everything that is not grass is a "weed" is propaganda by scotts/monsantos.". So I mowed and mulched this thing, throwing baby BWs everywhere in lawn. 2) I like my toilet time to be not-scary.

  • HU-41537734584
    5 years ago

    Lots of good ideas for the "thread that never ends". I have FBW throughout my yard including garden areas and in my lawn. I use a commercial company to spray 3-4 times a year for weeds. One of their agents told me that a new chemical product was becoming available this year for public use which will eliminate FBW. He didn't know the name, but I'm definitely going to be researching it. And I've heard about the mites but have found a source nor do I know of anyone using them. (I'm in s/w Ontario, Canada.)

  • Deb
    5 years ago

    According to what I learned in my master gardener classes, quinclorac is one of the most effective chemical controls for bindweed. Personally, I use Fertilome Weed Out with Crabgrass Killer, which is 2.13% quinclorac.

  • matchy
    3 years ago

    I have FBW throughout the yard and beds and as much weeding as we do, it just seems to be getting more and more established every year because my fences face the street and the grass out on the street is 3/4 FBW. W.r.t chemicals, for people who have used killex (2,4-d) , have any of you used it in their beds? I have an area infested with the weed that I want to use for vegetable gardening, so if I use the sponge/glove method and apply killex directly on the foliage, I'm hoping I would be able to use the bed next season. My research shows that experiments showed 2,4-d toxicities dissipated from the soil after 2-14 weeks, so crossing my fingers!