Ian
My hedge is full of bindweed. How can I get rid of it? T.N. Newtown
Reply
From a distance, bindweed looks very attractive growing in the hedgerows. The reality is that this plant actually strangles the plant it is growing up with its winding habit. The young plant emerges from very thin roots in spring and quickly twists around anything for support. Digging it out is more or less impossible because the roots break very easily and regrow again. Weed killers containing glyphosate are effective but when the bindweed wraps itself around your cherished plants you risk killing them too. Train the plants up bamboo poles pushed into the hedge, start this in spring then in summer you can treat them with a weed killer. It is a bit of a pain to do but it will eventually get rid of them.
Horticutural.
