There are some things that can take the pleasure out of gardening, hard as that may seem to realize. Slugs, for one. Early one morning when family was visiting, I went out with my 8½ year old grandson and we went on a slug hunt. Charlie was great at pointing out ones I missed, partly because he is lower to the ground and spots them easier. And we collected 89 in about a 10 minute search. They were all over the hosta, left-over daffodil leaves, and my newly planted lupine as well as on the sidewalk and flowerpots.
But even more of a problem in my garden is the abundance of field bindweed, commonly called “morning glory,” although they are only distantly related to the pretty, annual climbers whose botanical name is Ipomoea. Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) is considered an invasive perennial vine that can send roots as deep as nine feet into the ground. If left unchecked, a single plant may live as long as 20 years. And try as I might, I find it difficult to eradicate this weed.
< Field bindweed with English ivy...two invasives!
Field bindweed can be identified by its arrow-shaped leaves that are opposite each other on the long stems. If a young stem is broken, it will exude a milky sap. Trumpet-like flowers will bloom white to pink and will be produced sporadically throughout the year. Mine show up mostly in spring and summer, though.
This plant was introduced from Europe but has now spread worldwide and is considered one of the most noxious weeds in the world because of its tendency to strangle other plants and rob the nutrients from crop plants like potatoes, beans and peas. The roots can grow deep but they also colonize the upper two feet of soil with their horizontal roots. In fact, breaking off a plant without digging out the entire root will only cause more horizontal roots to form and more plants to form from those roots. By cultivating the soil where bindweed has been, the roots will expand and rapidly build up the species even faster.
Growing along the ground until it finds something – anything – to climb, bindweed stems will wrap themselves in a circular pattern around that vertical support. And this includes poles, fence posts, trees and other plants. I often find them snaking up a branch of the rhododendrons but also up the stalks of azalea and rose bushes. They certainly aren’t put off by thorns of any kind.
I do not like to use herbicides because of the children and wildlife in my garden, as well as the dogs. Glyphosate (aka “Roundup”) will work with repeated applications, but it is very hard to keep herbicides from drifting in a breeze and thus killing all the flowers in the garden. Glyphosate is absorbed into the leaves and move to the roots, eventually killing the plant. If you do decide to try this route, the best time to apply herbicide is when the plants are blooming and on a day with no wind. (But keep in mind, Glyphosate has its own dangers and has been linked to certain cancers.) Remember, though, that the root system is so vast, that a single application of herbicide won’t be enough to kill the plant. Allow enough time between repeated applications that the plant can grow and produce more flowers.
If you are reluctant to try the herbicides for control of bindweed, plan on digging as deep as possible and pulling the plants up every three weeks during the growing season. Even leaving two inches of root is enough for bindweed to regenerate new shoots. If you are dedicated and persistent, you can deplete the root system in about three years. Because of the ability to generate new roots, mowing this plant is certainly not an alternative to digging it out.
I know this sounds like a fulltime job, and with as much bindweed as I have in my garden, it is. In the early spring when I see the first signs, I dig in and pull it out as much as I can find. Then for the rest of the summer, I go out every day and pull out what I have missed. I don’t always find the time to dig it out, but just pulling off flowers will keep it from going to seed. And I don’t compost this plant as it will simply generate in the compost pile. It needs to be bagged and removed to the dump.
My grand plan for eradication is to teach my grandson Charlie to weed this summer. He is a willing helper and loves being in the garden. And he can get into smaller spaces and find this noxious weed. If I arrange payment of say, 10 cents a weed, in a few years from my garden alone he will easily earn his first year of college tuition!
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