Bind Weed - how to get rid of?

I spent several hours yesterday digging out bindweed roots! I think they are just something you need to keep niggling at. Last year, in the same place, I dug out handfulls of the roots. I then waited a month or two and when the shoots started coming up again, I sprayed them in a systemic herbicide (systemic means that it goes in through the leaves and down through the roots and, theoretically, kills the entire plant). They died back and I had hoped that was that. However, more shoots have now come through, so I'm just going to repeat the process again. Therefore, I can fully sympathise with you!

It isn't easy to dig the roots out without leaving broken bits in the soil. Each of these bits will grow to produce a new plant.
I have bindweed growing in the beech hedge on two sides of my vegetable garden. Every year it spreads into the vegetable beds and each year I remove as much root as I can when I prepare the beds. The rest of the year I just hoe it down . I use a crop rotation with a fallow area included, so every fifth year each bed is covered for the growing season with black plastic which eliminates light and water and prevents weeds developing. I think th bindweed is losing this battle, or maybe I am kidding myself :-)

Thanks for your replies :) been doing this for last 6yrs so now think i might have to give in and pave it :( don't really want to as have grand-children and grass is alot kinder to them. Will have to think long and hard but thanks anyone else got anymore ideas willing to try anything to keep my grass

Perhaps you could try to think of it as a wildflower rather than a weed?!

i think we should have a competition to see who has the most!!! i'm definatly in the top tem!!!!

May I ask you where the bindweed is growing? Is it amongst other plants? If so, one tried and tested method is to train each piece up a cane, then to smear weed killing gel onto the leaves. It has to be a systemic one. It may take a while, but if you persevere, it should work. Otherwise, if it is possible, clear the area and dig it deeply, taking out all the pieces of root and cover with black plastic for a month then do the same again. This is what they are doing at Hestercombe Gardens to clear an infested flower bed (LARGE). It will not be replanted until no more shoots sppear. It is obviously a tedious task, but keeping at it does work in the end. What Xela is doing is very similar - and it seems that she is winning!

the bindweed started behind my fence and has travelled across my grass.Unable to dig behind fence as pavement other side. I use to have plants where its growing but bindweed killed them, digging ground over now as deep as i can trying not to brake roots but not having much success will keep trying though never now might eventually win. Here's hope. Thanks

You could try digging a trench all along the fence and sinking an impervious layer - such as the stuff used as pond lining - which would act as a barrier and persuade the bindweed roots not to come onto your side of the fence - you might then be in with a fighting chance of irradicating it your side :-) Not sure how deep you would have to go with it - I would think at least 18" (45cm).

Lets just say when my wall fell down last yr there was a mass behind it :- ( Treated over 3mths before local authority re-built it and thought i might of seen the end of it but wasn't that lucky will try trench tho as i said will try anything to keep my grass. thanks

Unfortunately, the roots go a lot deeper than that. I think you will have to trench deeper, you will find out how deep they go. I hope the soil isn't too difficult to dig! You won't be able to NOT break the roots, I reckon that's an impossibility, I'm afraid. You are right to keep at it. It will eventually become a much easier job to dig out or kill off the small number of shoots which will still come from broken bits of root - but fewer each year. Good luck!

i used to live in a terrace in enfield, north london where everyone's gardens backed on to each other - your post has just reminded me of the dreaded bind weed that i had. it seemed the more i pulled this stuff out the stronger it became, i didn't help that the garden next door was totally overgrown... good luck