[Lloydus]

Hi,

Just acquired my first allotment. Rough plot covered in brambles at the moment and been told the one half has got bindweed.

What’s the best course of action for the bindweed? Would like to try stay away from chemical if possible.

Any tips what seeds to start off now?

Thanks

[GreenOwl]

Dig with a fork and remove as much of the roots as you can.
Repeat at intervals for the rest of your allotment career.

Don't be put off.  You just need to stay on top of it.

(You'll need to dig out the bramble roots as well.)

Good luck.

Unless you have a heated greenhouse its still a bit early to start anything.  Welcome to the forum. 

[Lloydus]

Thanks GreenOwl.

Thinking about getting a Polytunnel :happy:

[bigben]

I was you a year ago with a plot full of brambles and bindweed. The brambles are the easier of the two but expect to have to persevere for a couple of years. I have not used glyphosphate much - only on my main path- I dont like the idea of growing on treated areas. So it has meant a lot of digging out with a fork and then taking to heart the phrase"Never let them see a Monday" hoe off the bindweed every time you go onto the plot. I found an azada useful for the brambles.

[mumofstig]

I dug my big bed when the soil was fairly dry and managed to fork most of the root out as I went. Only a few bits came back and I just kept pulling them up, if I could reach, or hoeing the tops off each week and That bed is now bindweed free.

Now in among the raspberry roots it is a different matter 
When they start to grow, I'm going to put the tops of the bindweed into a jar of glyphosate and hope that kills them off once and for all.

[justviolet]

I am a bit naive, just looked up indeed after reading this. Are they like the white flowers on the flower fairy hats years ago? Like white trumpets? I never realised, my garden in my last house had lots of those! I never stressed because I thought of flower fairies!

I think my allotment has got it in the fruit bushes. There was a dried up thin shoot twined round and round each of the stems. It took some untangling. I think I'm becoming obsessed with weeds! 

This may be a silly question but why are weeds worse than companion flowers? Don't they both compete?

[DD.]

Companion flowers will exist happily alongside your fruit/veg. That's what friends are for!

Bindweed will just choke the life out of them. Yes they are the white trumpet shaped flowers.

[Kleftiwallah]

The only plus to bindweed is that the roots are shockingly white and easily seen against the earth.    Cheers,   Tony.

[justviolet]

I have a bad feeling
   what would you do if you had thrown bindweed roots onto the compost heap, other than cry?

[VirginVegGrower]

I was you a year ago with a plot full of brambles and bindweed. The brambles are the easier of the two but expect to have to persevere for a couple of years. I have not used glyphosphate much - only on my main path- I dont like the idea of growing on treated areas. So it has meant a lot of digging out with a fork and then taking to heart the phrase"Never let them see a Monday" hoe off the bindweed every time you go onto the plot. I found an azada useful for the brambles.

I looked at the azada - it looks good - do you just use it for hacking at bramble, which I do not have (luckily) but we do have some persistent weed and my back breaks when clearing it. Can this tool be used for that do you know/have experience of? Thanks.

[totalnovice]

I have a bad feeling
   what would you do if you had thrown bindweed roots onto the compost heap, other than cry?
I'd suggest............when you have spare time  tip the compost out and try to get all the roots out, before it all grows through the compost.

Cry, then smack your self, then proceed as suggested! I bet we have all done something silly like that though - i threw a whole load of dandilion heads and roots onto my mums compoft heap 6 or 7 years ago, she still curses me for it!

[mumofstig]

I have a bad feeling
   what would you do if you had thrown bindweed roots onto the compost heap, other than cry?

I'd suggest............when you have spare time  tip the compost out and try to get all the roots out, before it all grows through the compost.

[st0ne5ish]

I tried to get rid of bindweed in my back garden for two years, I tried digging every bit out but it just kept coming back. Then I tried cutting it as soon as it appeared but again it never finished it off.

In the end I grew it up bamboo canes until it was about 4 foot then painted the leaves with glyphosate when a few dry days were forecast, each time a new shoot appeared I trained it up then painted the leaves. Halfway through summer it was all gone, next year it never came back 

[Lloydus]

Thanks all.

Plenty of comments to try.

[bigben]

I was you a year ago with a plot full of brambles and bindweed. The brambles are the easier of the two but expect to have to persevere for a couple of years. I have not used glyphosphate much - only on my main path- I dont like the idea of growing on treated areas. So it has meant a lot of digging out with a fork and then taking to heart the phrase"Never let them see a Monday" hoe off the bindweed every time you go onto the plot. I found an azada useful for the brambles.

I looked at the azada - it looks good - do you just use it for hacking at bramble, which I do not have (luckily) but we do have some persistent weed and my back breaks when clearing it. Can this tool be used for that do you know/have experience of? Thanks.

I use my azada more than any other tool. It makes light work of brambles - you can get it underneath and pop them out easier than with a fork. I use it for rough digging ground that has not been dug for years. You can either pick out the roots as you go along or if it is really bad then go over again with a fork. It is really good for turning over ground at the end of the season - I find I turn over a bed 2-3 times faster than with a fork. I use it for trenching for planting spuds and also for earthing up. It can even be used to lift turf if your not worried about reusing the turf - it tends to break it up a bit but that might be user error.

There is a knack to using it - you tend to walk forward and pull the soil towards you. It may well suit you if you have a bad back - I tend to find the bit between my shoulders aches after using it for a long time rather than my back. However you will still need to bend down to pick out the roots of weeds like bindweed - sorry!