Bind weed...GRRRRR!

[gardengalrn]

It is my firm belief that the cockroach would not be the only living thing left after a nuclear attack. It would find a home in the darned bindweed. I've studied on this so I know how it procreates...did you know the seed can last 50+ years in the soil??? I pretty much had to till my garden this spring, it being a new garden and all. All the pieces you chop spring forth a whole new plant. So I have unbelievable amount of this noxious weed. I need to get out there again tomorrow and pull what I can so it doesn't choke out everything it comes into contact with. Between my rows are just a lush green carpet of the stuff. Has anyone had a really bad problem with it and how did you fix it? I don't think it can be cured but I won't have anything else do well in the garden if I can't get a handle on it. I know last year I picked a bunch out of a flower bed, poured chemicals and topped with black plastic for the entire summer. It cut it back some but I'm still picking it out of that bed. This doesn't seem plausible for the garden nor would I want all the chemicals in there. I'm just venting, I guess.

[Ard]

I gave up on bindweed years ago and just live with them as low grade annoyance. Same thing with my fat happy gophers, c'est la vie, no?
I had been getting far too wound up about these types of things and decided to stop fighting so hard.
Certainly, for me, a state of mind that keeps my blood pressure in the healthy range.
Brian

[COgarden]

We have big problems with bindweed here. I try to water the "lawn" as little as possible which adds to the problem. That stuff will grow anywhere! I also never use any kind of weed killer. My neighbors love me, I'm sure. I had gotten to the same point as Brian, just keep it whacked back and accept it. A friend of mine told me last summer about a program here in Colorado to introduce bindweed mites as a natural control. I called to get a start but was too late for last year. About a week ago I got a call from the local extension office and picked up a bag of infested bindweed to try and get them established in my yard. Time will tell. I'd love to see it work, but I know how tough that bind weed can be. Here is a link to some basic info about bindweed mites.

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA...dweedmite.html

Good luck

Kurt

[levad]

i have japanese knotweed. its not in the garden but seems invincible, bulletproof and barely containable.

too bad its "knot" edbile.... maybe for ethanol?.................

[Ruth_10]

Probably the best you can do is keep it knocked back. That will keep it in catch-up mode rather than take-over mode.

[habitat_gardener]

I was talking to a neighbor at the community garden about bindweed. He's originally from Russia and said he recalled reading about a "genius" scientist who'd said bindweed was good for the soil, or at least wasn't all bad. He didn't recall the details, and didn't think the research was available in English. I had the impression this scientist was well known. Googling led to some links about bindweed flowers attracting beneficial insects, and about natural predators of bindweed, but nothing along the lines of bindweed being good for the soil. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

Some of my garden plots are at a community garden where bindweed is rampant. You pull it, and the next day you come back and pull some more.

[RobinB]

I actually moved two of my raised beds this year because they were infested with this horrible weed. I do wish there was something that could be done. Kurt, please let us know if the mites help!

[joseph]

If you dig it out about 6" deep every time that it shows up, eventually it gets tired and (mostly) gives up. In small beds, I dig the soil out to about 9" deep, toss it against a screen to separate the roots from the soil. That is especially effective.

In my fields, I just knock it down all summer long.

[Redbaron]

You guys with bind weed are probably going to hate me for this, but bind weed is a good thing. The crazy Russian scientist is correct. All you have to do is change your mindset. Rethink your hatred of bindweed and think of it as your super productive miracle green mulch crop. Of course you do have to keep harvesting the bumper crop and processing it in your compost pile.

I recommend a mower with a bagging feature and place to keep piling it higher and higher. Mulch heavily in your crop rows and allow the bindweed to grow in between rows. Keep mowing in between rows. Every once in a while some vines may escape the mower by vining on top of the mulch, but you can easily "harvest" them by running your hand along the edges before they get a chance to root themselves through the mulch and weed barrier.

It has been many years since I dealt with bind weed as a pest. Here in my part of Oklahoma it is present, but isn't much of a pest. However years ago in Indiana we had farmers as neighbors who plowed, and bindweed was an issue.

You'll be surprised how quickly it looses vigor when you keep "over harvesting" it. Just do NOT try digging it or pulling it.

[greenthumbomaha]

I had my garden "amended' with a50/50 mixture of topsoil and compost. Guess what else came with it? Its taken over about a quarter of the lawn too! - L

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

I had my garden "amended' with a50/50 mixture of topsoil and compost. Guess what else came with it? Its taken over about a quarter of the lawn too! - L

That only happens when the compost doesn't get hot enough.

[guruofgardens]

Ok, Redbaron - if I can't pull this horrible stuff to get rid of it, how do I keep it out of my flower beds? It is such a nuisance vining up the daisies and keeping tight to the stems, as well as other beautiful flowers.

I've heard that constant pulling would weaken the plant. Obviously not since it can get rampant if someone doesn't weed for a week. I do know how frustrated people can get.

[Redbaron]

Well in the bed itself you must use a good weed barrier covered with a heavy mulch. In the cracks, edges, holes created by insects etc.... it may try and come through, when it happens cut it at ground level and slide a "patch" piece of paper under the mulch and cover it heavily.

The reason you don't want to try pulling it is: it breaks the roots and suddenly you end up with 5 small plants instead of one big plant. If you cut it, 9 times out of 10 it will try to regrow from the same spot. which will now be covered, sapping it's stored strength. If you have pulled it now you have tons of small plants each crawling under the mulch seeking a crack to poke through. Greater chances at least 1 will find that.

All debris needs to be composted in a hot method or burned. Either works.

[guruofgardens]

Redbaron - I don't use a weed barrier in the flowers, only mulch. I like to have various flowers popping up from seeds blowing in the wind. I AM beginning to re-do part of one bed and will begin to use a heavier weed barrier before I re-plant the perennials I've dug up. (we had a malfunction in the sprinkler system so it needed to be rebuilt, etc. and lots of the bed had to be dug up.)

So, I guess the malfunction was a good thing. We'll see how the newly redone bed will look with weed barrier and many fewer flowers. Still have lots to dig up. Always more and more to do every summer.

Of course all of the bindweed and weeds are burned. I want no more of them!

Thanks for responding with good advice. I may just have to ask more questions at a later time.