Neighbour's bindweed coming thro' under the fence.....

Have had this problem for 5 years at our last house, & now got it worse in our new house! Dig (carefully) & dig & dig. Carefully untangle the twining b***ers from your beloved lovelies. Otherwise, stick some canes in the ground, let the bindweed climb them & selectively spray the leaves with glyphosphate (I think...I did the digging thing)...that goes down to their roots.
I tried sinking old slates vertically down below the fence boundary at the worst bits to sort of slow the advances a bit. I think I was getting somewhere, particularly now that I'm in a new garden where the previous owners just put weed suppressant fabric down & covered the entire garden with gravel like cat litter (used by all local cats as such). Underneath, there's the fattest bindweed root specimens I've seen ALL OVER, finding their way out of holes. That together with that weed with leaves a bit like comfrey & little blue flowers a bit like forget-me-not with giant tap roots.
I think I'll be back to digging again.

Hello CN,
What is your relationship like with your neighbours. Could you go to them and ask them to dig out the bindweed their side as every time you break the roots off your side you produce more growing points the other side. This will just go on and on.

Hi Craftnutter.
I understand your problems here.
It's so frustrating when a neighbour causes you extra work, and you end up full of aches and pains. I have that experience because I was working on fencing adaptations all day yesterday and my shoulders really hurt today...

My neighbour the other side grows ivy as a crop.... :o(
I hate when it comes through and strangles my plants....
I hope you can sort this out. As Dr Bob says, your task could be never-ending....

I have bindweed too just in one part at the moment trying to keep it down by digging but just lately with the back giving out haven't been able to keep it up, blooming stuff is a pain! I've heard of the let it grow up a cane then spray before, think i'll have to have a go at it, as DoctorBob says if you pull at it and it snaps it just grows smaler bits!

I use glycophospate on it especially in the autumn. the poison is transported underground and does the job over winter. it will even do it for the neighbour too. ask if you can spray their side.

through the summer i pull/dig it out as soon as i see it and then from september i let it grow so it can have its nasty medicine.

I have this problem, too - it comes through from the field next door. Due to brambles, an electric fence and last but not least a herd of cattle, I can't spray it - so it's dig it out my side, trace it back to the fence, kill it off when I can, all those! Horrible stuff.

Thanks everyone for your time and kindness.

Sadly no, we are friends with just about everyone on our road but these people are unfriendly, nasty and who are also lazy smokers. (sorry, nothing against smokers, these people just make me cross! lol! I always give them an xmas card as I do all the others, just to pretend they don't stick in my craw!)

Thanks for the experience of membrane, that did cross my mind. Not sure if it was worth the effort tho'.

I would like to have a go with the cane method, but the root is right next to the fence and I would not be able to put a plastic bottle over it. Having spent £50 on new hedging whips I wouldn't want to risk losing them and have spent back/neck breaking hours planting them near the fence etc.

Ok, I may have to resort to using chemicals. I will try and dig the stuff by the fence one last time. Slate did come to mind but isn't it expensive? Mind you, it'd be worth it to stop the darned stuff coming thro'. Thanks again folks!

Hi craftnutter if you do find success with any of these methods let me know as my neighbours love there bindweed and would hate to see me doing it any harm, lovely old dears that they are.I have thought about putting membrane vertically down the side of my fence! If the nasty stuff can't get through it might be worth the effort...Good luck! Ian

Hi Ian digs, I've got a trapped nerve in my neck, shoulder and back and will have osteo. When it has calmed down, I'm gonna give the membrane a go I think! Will let you know if it works or not! Lol!