Bindweed is a notorious garden weed to deal with, this is how you can stop it growing back (Image: wahid hasyim asyari via Getty Images)
Weeds are a widespread problem encountered by gardeners throughout the nation, and with daylight hours extending and temperatures climbing, they can spread uncontrollably. While most weeds can be visually unattractive, there’s a specific variety of weed that can prove harmful to your other plants.
Bindweed can be notoriously challenging to eliminate, and if it’s not extracted correctly, it can continue regenerating repeatedly. Gardening expert and TikTok creator Ish recently revealed the most effective technique for removing bindweed, and it’s advisable to tackle the issue now. Ish said: “If you have problems with bindweed in your garden; you’ve always wondered why it keeps coming back?
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Don’t leave any of the bindweed’s roots behind when digging them up (Image: Getty Images)
“Well, here’s the root of it, and as you can see, it just keeps going and going and going and going and going.”
Should you be unfamiliar with bindweed, it can be recognised by its exceptionally long twining stem and large white trumpet-shaped flowers. It can develop into a substantial mass of foliage, suffocating garden plants, stunting their growth or destroying smaller plants completely.
Bindweed’s extensive roots make it challenging to extract, and if you don’t eliminate all of the weed, it will continue returning. You likely won’t even appreciate just how lengthy the root extends underground.
The Royal Horticultural Society has warned that bindweed will vie with other plants for moisture, nutrients, space and light. If left unchecked, the weed’s stem can choke surrounding plants owing to its deep, extensive roots, which makes it particularly difficult to eradicate, reports The Mirror.
Bindweed can spread throughout gardens when new plants or soil containing root fragments are introduced. Once bindweed fragments take hold in soil, the roots can proliferate rapidly.
They can also spread through composting the roots or accidentally severing them while digging the plants up. To prevent bindweed from returning, Ish explained that gardeners should dig up the entire root, leaving nothing behind.
Ish continued: “But if you leave even just that bit there, that will grow into a whole new bindweed again and again. So the best thing you can do to prevent it from growing is actually overplant over it.
“So restrict the light, so when some of these small shoots come out, they’re not being fed by the light, they’ve only got what the roots are giving them. So by repeatedly digging them up and taking them away, starving them of that light, effectively, you will help get rid of it.”
The RHS also advised deadheading the plants before they have the chance to produce seeds; forking out any seeds, which most commonly appear in spring and autumn; or lifting the border plants, clearing the ground and replanting. Should you opt for a weed killer, Ish has previously recommended using a natural-based solution comprising water, salt and white vinegar. While this will significantly dehydrate the plant, it will not destroy the root entirely.
Some natural weed killers may be capable of killing the root, however you should remain vigilant and avoid any products that break down microorganisms in the soil.
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