Hi all. New boy here.

Last summer, my roses (Rosa Rogosa and Gloire de Dijon), as well as my Pyracantha were totally engulfed in bindweed. It wrapped itself tightly around the stems; I'd been cutting the stuff away, but left it for a month or so and the next time I looked all I could see was the bindweed.

Q: Is is possible to apply "Roundup" weed killer (B&Q) to the bindweed with zero danger to the roses and Pyracantha in view of their close proximity? I'm a complete novice, but assume that the bindweed roots might be wrapped around those of the roses and Pyracantha. The last thing I want to risk is killing the roses and Pyracantha as they've been grown as security plants and have taken 3 years to get this far. Is it at all feasible to apply the Roundup to a bindweed leaf as the stuff emerges from the ground and it just surgically 'take out' the the weed only?

Stormin'

Hi storming
To answer your question..

Firstly if you pull up the bindweed root, it should look like a long creamy\whitish fairly flexible root, try and get as mich of it out as possible, sadly if you pull it out and a bit breaks of it will come back again.
Secondly, sure you could use round up but if it is wrapped around your plants I would advise not useing roundup especially if you are using a sprayer.
There is a stick of weedkiller you can get called touchweeder, which is waxy applicator and sure it is labourious applying the stuff but it does the job and there is no risk to to your roses and pyracantha.
Hope this helps ya out

Simply paint the liquid roundup not spray. I occassionally spray roundup
around woody stems of various plants to get rid of pernicious weeds and have
had no problems - just dont wave the spray wand about, spara larger droplets
and don't do it if there is a breath of wind.

"insanite" wrote in message
...

Hi storming
To answer your question..

Firstly if you pull up the bindweed root, it should look like a long
creamy\whitish fairly flexible root, try and get as mich of it out as
possible, sadly if you pull it out and a bit breaks of it will come
back again.
Secondly, sure you could use round up but if it is wrapped around your
plants I would advise not useing roundup especially if you are using a
sprayer.
There is a stick of weedkiller you can get called touchweeder, which is
waxy applicator and sure it is labourious applying the stuff but it does
the job and there is no risk to to your roses and pyracantha.
Hope this helps ya out


--
insanite

I am clearing an area of my garden over the past few weekends and I'm
digging as much of the root out as I can find. Bindweed has a long white
brittle root system, so you have to dig carefully using a trowel. (The
intention is to weaken the plant, however it may be a fools errant as the
roots can go down 20 feet). Unlucky for me the neighbours keep growing a new
crop so I'm destined to struggle with this weed. I keep niggling it with a
hoe its not really a problem keeping this, and other weeds down.

If you search google groups for Judith Lea's method, which is basically to
stuff as much of the bindweed into the plastic bags (the small ones for
sandwiches) as you can, the more the better, slosh a little roundup
(diluted) into the bag, seal with a twist and leave it alone. The stuff
will work its way though the foliage and right through to the roots....

"insanite" wrote
Firstly if you pull up the bindweed root, it should look like a long
creamy\whitish fairly flexible root, try and get as mich of it out as
possible, sadly if you pull it out and a bit breaks of it will come
back again.
Secondly, sure you could use round up but if it is wrapped around your
plants I would advise not useing roundup especially if you are using a
sprayer.
snip

I think Stormin' would be on a hiding to nothing trying to pull out roots
of bindweed - they're so invasive and brittle that it's just about
impossible to dig them all out completely. Glyphosate does the trick
though. I managed last year to get rid of some bindweed in a similar
situation among shrubs and perennials by painting Roundup onto the young
shoots with an old 1'' paintbrush. Where the weed is right in among other
roots or stems one way to do this is to unwind the pieces you can reach and
retrain them outwards/upwards onto a cane or stake. Leave a short while to
grow until it's clear of its neighbours, then you can treat safely without
risking your prize specimens. Good luck!

--
Sue

Yep, last time I tried pulling the bindweed up I got a sore back, and none of it came out in one piece. It does seem to break up.

OK, so, as I understand it, as long as the point and method of application is such that you don't get any of the Roundup on anything else above ground, it's effects will be limited to the bindweed even if the bindweed is emerging from the ground right next to the good guys.

Thanks all

Stormin'

In article , Smashing Pumpkin
writes
If you search google groups for Judith Lea's method, which is basically to
stuff as much of the bindweed into the plastic bags (the small ones for
sandwiches) as you can, the more the better, slosh a little roundup
(diluted) into the bag, seal with a twist and leave it alone. The stuff
will work its way though the foliage and right through to the roots....
I didn't know I was famous! If you have a lot of bindweed, it is much
easier to push a stick, i.e. those used for runner beans, into the soil,
and the bindweed will creep up all over it. Simply pull the stick out
of the ground and you will be left with a large ball of bindweed, now
stick that into the bag and continue with the instructions above.
--
Judith Lea

The message
from "Sue" contains these words:

I think Stormin' would be on a hiding to nothing trying to pull out roots
of bindweed - they're so invasive and brittle that it's just about
impossible to dig them all out completely. Glyphosate does the trick
though. I managed last year to get rid of some bindweed in a similar
situation among shrubs and perennials by painting Roundup onto the young
shoots with an old 1'' paintbrush. Where the weed is right in among other
roots or stems one way to do this is to unwind the pieces you can reach and
retrain them outwards/upwards onto a cane or stake. Leave a short while to
grow until it's clear of its neighbours, then you can treat safely without
risking your prize specimens. Good luck!


I got rid of a colony of bindweed just by pulling out the new shoots as
they appeared. At the end of the first year they were getting scrawny,
and at the end of the second year they'd given up.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

P Williamson wrote:

Simply paint the liquid roundup not spray. I occassionally spray roundup
around woody stems of various plants to get rid of pernicious weeds and have
had no problems - just dont wave the spray wand about, spara larger droplets
and don't do it if there is a breath of wind.

Glyphosate only kills plants where it touches green leaves or shoots. It
pretty much bounces off most woody stems and IME waxy holly seedlings
(but don't rely on it).

"insanite" wrote in message
...

Hi storming
To answer your question..

Firstly if you pull up the bindweed root, it should look like a long
creamy\whitish fairly flexible root, try and get as mich of it out as
possible, sadly if you pull it out and a bit breaks of it will come
back again.

Which is why hitting it regularly with glyphosate (or anything else in
the weedkilling line you happen to be using) is needed combined with a
digging campaign to keep it from ever having any good leaves in the sun.
Just be sure to use a brush and a steady hand and be prepared to chop
off any unfortunate bits of plant you happen to hit by accident.

It is a war of attrition. Bindweed (and for that matter ground elder)
can store a heck of a lot of energy in those thick white creamy roots.
Ground elder is less of a challenge as it is very shallow rooted.

Secondly, sure you could use round up but if it is wrapped around your
plants I would advise not useing roundup especially if you are using a
sprayer.

Putting a few bamboo canes to train the bindweed up will help. But
really nothing beats zapping each shoot as it comes up. Never let it see
the sun unmolested!

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:26:27 +0000, P Williamson wrote
(in message ):

Simply paint the liquid roundup not spray. I occassionally spray roundup
around woody stems of various plants to get rid of pernicious weeds and have
had no problems - just dont wave the spray wand about, spara larger droplets
and don't do it if there is a breath of wind.

You need to be killing the bindweed on a continual basis and all other things
being equal, in theory you can win the war if you stop the plant from getting
enough top growth to sustain the roots. The difficulty I have with doing
this is that it is necessary to keep up the treatment and not relent, not
stop for a while, etc- just keep on attacking it to stop it thriving, not
even a little bit of thriving!- it, for as long as it takes. But there is
more than one way to attack it.

What you could do in addition to spraying/painting with glyphosphate, and
after you'd had made some good progress with that, would be to to use heavy
black polythene sheeting to cover the ground for some distance around this
location, allowing only the roses through. You could tape it carefully with
some sort of weatherproof tape around the rose stems so that other than your
roses, nothing gets through. The right kind of polythene allows water through
(your roses wouldn't survive otherwise) and blocks light. The bindweed cannot
get through the opaque polythene and so it gets no light. With no light it
cannot live indefinitely- its chemical processing depends on light reaching
the leaves- so after a while (could be a couple of years) it will give up, at
least in that location. Various places in the UK stock polythene sheeting for
this purpose.

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)