Ah, a new bind weed thread.

Sifting it out successfully seems highly unlikely. Other control methods you might explore:

There is the coffee / beer method. Early in the morning, grab cup of coffee, go out and pull bind weed. Later in the day, grab a beer and go pull bind weed.

Just figure that bind weed is part of the Zen of Gardening, and ignore it. Learn were to focus - not on the weed, but the flowers, and get into the whole symbiotic thingie, yin yang, and all that.

Go the flower snob route, and put little copper identifying signs that say: "Convolvulus arvensis var. Cowboy Lasso" for one, and "var. Fairy Bondage" for the next, and so on.

But seriously, spraying it in the fall gets better results. I keep it under control with a heavy mulch, and then when it comes through that, using a small bottle of hand spray with roundup and 2,4-D. Over the course of a few years, its gone down considerably.

Round up does not seem to work that well on bindweed. I use round up sometimes, but it lives. It may need more treatments. It may be resistant to round up. I like to dig a deep hole where it is removing as much as I can before planting. If some plants are stuck it in, I would dig up the plants remove everything all the roots. Then apply OM to make the soil easier to dig up next time. Replant. Then in a few years do it all over again. It is only when you see and let it go that it gets a toe hold. Once that happens it is even more work, but I think it can be done with enough labor. It comes from the neighbors weed patch yard next door. Therefore without access to digging their entire yard, I can never get rid of it. Even then if I could dig up all of those, it will keep coming back as long as one person on the block has a weed patch yard.

I have had absolutely no luck with 2,4-d and roundup. Here in western KS, unfortunately it has become resistant to both, and even Tordon. Having come from a farm, I learned at an early age there is absolutely no way to kill bindweed off. Best luck is to try to choke it out. If you use roundup, the one that works best is the extended control, but then nothing comes for the season. My cousin told me to mix it with 2,4-d and roundup, that is what is currently used to treat musk thistle and field bindweed on farms.

The guy at the noxious weed dept was not too happy that I asked him about where to get it, but since the city does nothing to try to control it in my area as it is unplatted, I have to do something. My neighbor is horrible about letting their yard get waist high, which is nothing but sand burrs, cheet grass and bindweed, so bad that I usually go and spray it down before it gets to my property line. I think I went too strong though, I had a little bit of tordon RTU left in the sprayer and think I killed their tree. I used the tordon up against the house to prevent anymore chinese elms and also in my driveway. Funny thing is the guy from the city came by and actually thanked me for putting in grass and killing down the bindweed.

I know one thing that will stop it though, but it will stop everything, and that is to get salt additive for feed and spread it out.

so far I noticed that the bindweed that makes a comeback is very weak, when it emerges it is a yellowish red color and pulls easy. I have also been using weed block which seems to help but since it can't establish in my yard, it has started to crack through the street. I have decided to add Metsulfuron-methyl to all of my herbicides as it does not harm grass, though I do keep a bottle of 2,4-d straight also. One thing about it though is the half life, it is effective up to 2 weeks.

Anyways, the Kansas State University Ag research is only about a mile south of me and their documents said that the bindweed here has become resistant to roundup and definitely 2,4-d. Luckily the bindweed is pretty muxh gone and just the grass coming back

My sister had goats. She'd throw armloads of the stuff over the fence into the goat pen and they went crazy over it. I suppose if she let them loose in the garden they would have eaten everything...

I'm interested in S10sleeper's remark about "choking it out". Are you saying that if I get good thick turf going, which I can mow, the bind weed will die out? How many years would I have to leave it in grass to have it die out?

To get it choked out, it requires invasive grasses, such as bermudagrass, buffalo will grow in bindweed also if it can become established, but it is hard to establish at first and the bindweed will still come in. Also with buffalo, it is very drought tolerant and goes dormant during droughts, which is why it may turn brown and look dead, but will come back with water.

I need to correct on my previous post, what I meant to say that my cousin told me to use is 2,4-d and metsulfuron-methyl, which i also added quinclorac and roundup. The bindweed will have to be attacked aggressively, and it will still try to come, bindweed roots can go up to 40 feet deep, plus if you pull it and throw it on the ground it can grow into that area.

One thing I am certain of, is NEVER let the bindweed flower, but that is also a problem with establishing a lawn, you aren't supposed to mow it for awhile.

Usually bindweed will kill off grass and other plants by taking over. One thing I learned to do is that I took a small bottle, cut off the bottom of it and then used duct tape to attach it to my sprayer so I can put it down over the bindweed and spot treat it, another one is a small paint brush to paint it on. Either way, after that spot dies, pull it and put it in a trash bag so it doesn't blow off anywhere.

Basically what will happen is it will try to find an easier place to grow, so it may just go over to the neighbors yard or come in across the street. Even where my grass has established I still have to go in and fight some bindweed. Of course, I also have to fight birds too, they go after the seed I spread.

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What's the difference between bind weed and morning glories?
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If you have a regular lawn the bind weed will just pop right out of the lawn. There are no shorts cuts. I wish there were. I am a short cut type of person. If you don't dig out all of the root, it will just sprout again.

Bindweed is related to morning glories, the name for field bindweed is Convolvulus arvensis, and the flowers act the same way, however, in Kansas it is considered a noxious weed as it is not native nor beneficial, it does more harm than good, choking out crops.

As far as digging out all of the root, that is pretty much impossible. You are right, there are no shortcuts, just use the strongest non-selective herbicides you can and a good surfactant, I use dawn dish soap, but be careful not to kill everything else. If you do keep on fighting it though, it will seek other places to come to surface, like I said earlier, it literally busted through the asphalt on my street this year.

If you get it before it spread out depending on size of your property, it can be dug out. The second you see it sprouting, just dig it up as far as you can to the fence. Using round up is only wasting time. It will live and grow but look a bit distressed. I used round up at a high level of concentration.

If you have a huge lot and it is already very messed up, I don't know, you could like remove as much of it as you can. The only thing I would give up on is English Ivy when it is greatly compacted in the soil. It gets kind of woody like a tree, but bind weed is still fibrous ought to be able to come out if you can dig enough soil. Post a photo, I want to see how that would look. There is also brush b gone but that is for woody plants blackberry, so I don't know.

Control of Field Bindweed is a long term process and should involve multiple methods of control. There are no herbicides that will give complete control and repeated applications of these plant poisons is not good for the environment or the future of this planet. Cultivation, growth barriers (mulches), cultivation, and cultivation are the most effective methods of control.

Here is a link that might be useful: Control of Field Bindweed

From looking at that link, it says if you have clay, I have sand, if you have a large property, mine is small, if you let it get out of control, it will grow down 14 feet. I could not dig it out at that level. That site said actually said it ruins the land for farming, so sell that land and move, I guess. The seeds last for 60 years. The vines can live without leaves or water. Although it did say if you can dig down two feet you can remove most of it, then you would have to keep redigging out it each time it pops up to get some sunlight. Then maybe after a number of years it could be better? If you dig it up sure to remove the pieces in the soil, don't just chop it up, that won't hurt it.

I'm on 3.5 acres in prime bindweed country - surrounded by fields of the stuff.

I have a pretty thick lawn, and its not really a problem, only the thin spots.

I have both 2,4D and roundup concentrate. I mix up a solution with about 20% more than the recommended rate for each, together in the same container (checked this out first with the ag extension guy) and funnel it into a small hand sprayer.

I use a coffee can with both ends cut out, put on disposable gloves, put all the bindweed foliage inside the can, and spray it a few times with the solution. Gently remove the can so the foliage doesn't touch anything else. Cover it with mulch.

After a month or so, up comes some more through the mulch. I repeat the process. That usually does it.

When I started here, I could go out and pull a cubic yard of bind weed every week. Heavy mulch, thick grass, and the combo spray. I've knocked it back considerably, but I'll never get rid of it completely. I've got some thats right up against some roses and other awkward places, and I just have learned to pull what I can and ignore the rest.

Question: why would you try to re mulch the bind weed you sprayed with chemicals? Why not discard the bind weed? If it dies it will just mean more chemicals in your soil. If it lives, well more bind weed.
I use roundup concentrate to kill off my lawn, but I did not put any of that back into the compost. I use it for sidewalk crack weeds now, but i would never spray round up and then re incorporate into my soil. It does basically go away once the plant dies in theory,but if you use a big amount over time I would assume it could be a problem. It has been reported to kill trees when people use to weed under trees. Over time the tree suck it up and then the tree dies.

The thing about bindweed is the seeds are extremely hard and can stay dormant for long periods of time. Tilling and cultivating on limits the top layers. Many times unless the ground was contaminated by bad seed or manure from animals that ate bindweed, then it may have come up from a nearby property.

The most effective herbicide on field bindweed actually is roundup from my experience and everyone else I know, and combining it with Banvel, and 2,4-d helps. Roundup has shown a success rate of 75% control compared to about 60% with others at best.

I have used straight roundup numerous times prepping my garden with no trouble later on with the plants growing, just the bindweed coming back.

Another way to help hinder it is by growing things that are much taller as it does not do well in shade.

Another odd thing that I found out is that for some reason, it does not grow well in buffalo grass, I just realized that looking at the part of my yard that is buffalo, there is no bindweed there and the other weeds are not creeping in since I sprayed my neighbors yard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kansas State University Ag Research

Question: why would you try to re mulch the bind weed you sprayed with chemicals? Why not discard the bind weed? If it dies it will just mean more chemicals in your soil. If it lives, well more bind weed.

The idea is to leave the herbicide chemicals on the plants as long as possible so its drawn down into the roots.

I try to mulch my gardens with 3-5 inches of compost and grass clippings for moisture and weed control, so in the over-all scheme of things, this isn't much of an input. We're not talking huge quantities of the stuff.

2,4D will indeed migrate through the soil and damage / kill other plants, and it would likely be safer to just use Roundup, which is rapidly bound by the soil.

I misunderstood, I thought you were composting them back into your soil. If the bind weed is cut from the mother root, it won't affect the rest, but you are leaving it on the mother root? I had never thought of that.

I did lose a Calceolaria integrifolia Golden Nugget because I was trying to spot treat with round things like bind weed and also weedy grassing that grow on runners under the fence. I was sure I never touched the Calceolaria with the round up, but it somehow died. It may have soaked up the round up with it's roots. I was able to find another Calceolaria however, so I still have this plant.

Interesting, I have never lost plants near where I spot treated. Was there any breeze at all when you did that? I have seen Roundup affect plants nearby when the wind is blowing.

I use the Round Up concentrate, undiluted. I paint it on the leaves with a Q-tip. It seems to work for a season, but the bind weed is back in the same spots the next year.

Thankfully, I only have a few tendrils coming under the fence from the neighbor's.

Interesting, I have never lost plants near where I spot treated. Was there any breeze at all when you did that? I have seen Roundup affect plants nearby when the wind is blowing.

Not with just plain Roundup. But with 2,4D, yes. That stuff will stay active/potent for some time in the soil, like months.

In fact, I have a peony shooting up this spring that, somehow, must have been contaminated with 2,4D last fall when I was spraying the bindweed.

I had the golden nugget for 15 years in this spot. See the fence from which the bind weeds comes from and weedy grass on runners. See how close the fence is to the plant. I got down very close to the weeds but somehow one day the plant began to lose parts. I trimmed back the dead areas but the plant grew smaller and smaller like reverse growth until nothing remained.
I posted on garden web for help,but got no replies. But, by chance I found it again at Fioloi garden in redwood city.

Here is a link that might be useful: See plant and fence

Using roundup undiluted is fairly pointless, the strongest I ever use is 20% more than recommended, after that it does nothing more according to the people from the ag research center.

Between roundup and 2,4-d, at least the field bindweed here in Kansas, 2,4-d does not do much without mixing with tordon or alli.

As far as depth, if you are only having to go 15 feet, it must be a different breed, we seriously have it go down as far as 40 feet here.

We have a loamy clay soil here, making it easy for bindweed, the clay is on top, results in poor drainage

The Roundup you see stacked in displays of one gallon containers only contains 2% glyphosate. I've bought concentrates containing 18% and 45% glyphosate at Home Depot.

Bindweed is resistant to Roundup because its root systems are so extensive. I've pulled up shallow runners a good 20 ft. long. They always break before you can get them all, though, which probably just compounds the problem. Easy enough to kill the foliage with Roundup, but it dies well before it absorbs enough to kill the root.

I've lately been experimenting with trying to feed the runners, typically 1/4th to 3/8th inches thick, a 15% glyphosate mix. I scrape the ends of the runners, then insert them into a glass bottle containing the Roundup mix. Some runners have ingested 2 or 3 ounces over a period of several days. To soon to tell, but yesterday I spotted a long bindweed vine, with dying foliage, only a couple of feet from a runner I had "treated."

Don't use roundup,. It's expensive and it will kill everything it touches so you can't use it in your lawn or you'll have a dead area. I have not read all of the above threads but the best bindweed killer is AMINE. I believe the recipe is 6 tablespoons to a gallon of water in a sprayer but I could be slightly off. Just read the directions. This will kill the plant all the way to the root. Unless this is a brand new plant growing from seed, you cannot pull bindweed and get it all. It'll just keep getting stronger and stronger every time it grows back. Use Amine and it will take care of the problem. You can use it in your lawn and it will not harm the grass. It will harm other leafy plants, so wrap a plastic bag or newspaper or other barrier around the good plant to protect it and give the bindweed a good soaking with amine. It'll start dying pretty quickly. Just give it time to completely die and don't pull it up too soon or you'll stop the process and the root will start growing again. Please understand seeds can lay dormant in the ground for twenty years some times so you'll continue to have bindweed, but like I said at the beginning - in the spring when the seeds first sprout you can pull them and they won't come back. Only the established plants need AMINE.
I live on a hill and face the foothills of Colorado and between me and them are miles and miles of wild fields filled with weeds and weed seeds so new ones blow in all the time. This spring I went out and found a patch of Canadian Thistle in my rock garden, where I have not had thistle for many years. I used AMINE - 1/3 cup to 1 1/2 gallons of water and the thistles have not returned. That was in May, it is now July.. Other things are sprouting in that area, so the ground has not been hurt. I just bought a jug of Amine at Paulino Gardens in Denver and it was around $45 but that is enough for several years. I've seen it on the internet in smaller containers but after you pay for shipping you might as well just go to the garden shop and get a big jug.

OMG you guys, I just went back and read all of your comments. Please check AMINE. I've used it for thirty years, it's wonderful, I don't understand why no one has heard of it. When we first moved into our house the lawn was full of dandelions and bindweed and the former owners had bragged about how nice the lawn was ... HA!. Mix the Amine in water in a 1 1/2 gallon pump sprayer - use the correct measurements so you don't burn your grass, and spray the lawn, focusing on anything with a leaf but of course mostly the bind weed. If your lawn is like ours was, I sprayed every couple of weeks for the first couple of months. You won't have to dig anything. It will just die to the tip of the root. The next couple of years we had to spray a couple of times over the spring and summer as new seedlings sprouted, but no more after that, only in flower beds. This year is the first year in about 15 years that we've had a weed of any kind in the lawn and the lawn is beautiful. Be careful around your flowers, spray heavily along the neighbor's fence where their weeds are trying to come over onto your yard. A couple of times I've had a tough Canada Thistle and I just mixed the Amine a little bit stronger than the directions called for. It's stinky, I always wear gloves and try not to breathe the fumes when I mix it. I don't know if it will do anything or not, just be careful just in case.

Interesting that the OP mentions henbit, also a rhizome plant. Also thrives where there is a delay in the soil decay system, but of course in much cooler conditions than bindweed.