The message
from "Steve" contains these words:

Last year I had the first appearance of a large climbing weed in a corner of
the garden. This year it is taken over a large area along one wall and is
completely covering some ivy which will no doubt be killed off if I dont get
rid of the weed.

It grows at a prolific rate and has large leaves and tendrils which wrap
around anything nearby. It also mildly irritates the skin if you handle
them. As far as I recall from last year it dies away later in the year and
bears berries.

please note - from memory

Sounds as if it might be black bryony, but AFAIK it doesn't have
tendrils. I believe this is the only British representative of the yam
family. Leaves sagitate. Berries red, shiny and slightly ovoid.

White bryony AFAIK isn't an irritant but does have tendrils. That's a
native cucurbit. Leaves palmate. Flowers white, berries red and
spherical.

What is it likely to be (I can post a link to a photo if you like), and more
importantly what is the best way to get rid of this nuisance? Previous posts
about climbers seem to just say keep pulling them up.

However, aren't there weedkillers which are absorbed through leaves? I know
I can't spray them as some overspray will get onto the ivy and other nearby
plants, but would it be effective to "paint" it onto several leaves of the
weed?

Yes: paint a lot of leaves with glyphosate. The roots of both are fairly
large, so you may have to do this several times.

An alternative would be to unsecure several strands, feed them into some
drainpipe or similar, and spray glyphosate down the pipe. Don't worry
too much about the ivy as the leaves are waxy and don't absorb
glyphosate well.

If it was possible to get the weedkiller onto only the folliage of the weed
and the weed eventually died, would it effect plants nearby perhaps by the
chemical in the weed's roots eventually getting into the soil and being
absorbed by other plants through their roots?

No. Glyphosate and Paraquat and similar are neutralised on touching the soil.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
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