This link has some background and good specific advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature Conservancy- Bindweed

The bindweed mite (Aceria malherbae) used for longer term biological control is established in Montana.
You can contact your State Department of Agriculture about how/where to obtain them. Since they are pretty widely used in Colorado they can probably get them for a shipping fee from Colorado Department of Agriculture since I believe they are still being reared in the insectary here.

As an alternative, if you learn to recognize damage from the mite (pretty easy to spot) it's easy to collect them and release them back on your land. Since they are already established in the state, there are no specific permitting issues with moving them around or importing more into the state.

You might give some thought to treating with chemical for areas you want to get rid of right away and then treating other outlying areas of the property with the mite.

Thank you all for the advice! Bry84 your place sounds like my place. It is relentless, for the first time i am excited to see it growing, cuz iam gonna layeth the smaketh down on it!!!very encouraging.

Ask a local farmer or rancher if he has some Tordon and if he could spot spray for you.

Wow, I love the sound of your method Bry84...and am especially glad to hear that is has been working for you.

I'm eager to try it, but perhaps too eager, as the weed is only about a foot or two tall yet this year. The foliage and leaves are probably too young yet to efficiently transfer the Roundup to the roots--not to mention that there's probably just not enough foliage yet for the methid to be effective.

You think I should just wait until it's had a chance to grow for a while? It's sooo difficult watching it wind its nasty stems around my shrubs and perennials, but if I have to wait, I will.

Is bindweed the same as wild morning glory?

Yes, they're one and the same, Martha. :)

Brenda

Bry,
That is the most sensible and encouraging method I have ever read regarding eradication of this ultimate pest. Your explanation is particularly understandable...and appreciated. I an a newbie to this Weed from Hell, but my problem is minor compared to yours. Funny, it occurred to me that it was important to let foliage develop, to allow poison to be absorbed, but I never realized the extent to which this is necessary. Thanks again for your success story. Yes, it seems the key is to get the poison into the massive root system.

Question for Bry84. I would imagine that some bindweeds within an area are extensions of the same main root.. So do you put each and every bindweed in a can/jar? Or could you pick the biggest in the area and then pull the others? I would have to get a ton of cans/jars to get each and every weed in my garden/ yard. What would be the best method to start attacting this horrid weed?

Thanks for your help, Kristi

Wow, there has been quite a lot more interest in this thread than I expected. Had I know I would have stopped by sooner to respond in more detail.

Anyway... I wouldn't wait for the plant to develop better before I treated it. Starting early and being persistent was my method and it worked well. If you just kill the top foliage and not all the roots then, well, don't worry there'll soon be plenty more foliage to stick in weed killer!

As for some of it being extensions of the main plant, I can confirm this with certainty, but you really can't tell what's connected to what and there will be a number of different plants overlapping each other. Since it makes long strands I just gather up as many as possible from a wide area and stick them all in the pots. More pots and more strands is certainly better, but you have to limit yourself to some extent as it's very time consuming. I also cut the ends off as I figure a cut end will asorb more. There's no scientific basis to this assumption, I just figured that if you put cut flowers in a vase they suck up the water and live a while, but if you put them in upside down they'd probably die quite fast as water doesn't soak in through the external surfaces very well.

As for my own garden, it's been several years since I did this treatment and the bindweed has never come back like it first did. The first year after doing this I was almost 100% free of it, the second I saw a little that was easily removed. Now, it's been 3 or 4 years and the bindweed is starting to grow again in bigger quantities. A reasonable number of little shoots dotted around the place, they may be seedlings from other big plants which are in neighbour's gardens, or perhaps the main plants from several years back left some roots and they're reviving now. It's very persistent stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if pockets of root that didn't die the first time are comming back now. I intend to spray them with glyphosate, if they're seedlings they should die from this alone. If they don't I'll assume they're from a larger root system, either traveling from neighbour's gardens or left over from my own, and I will get out the cans again.

One other thing I used to have problems with was the lawn, it would grow out of the lawn all over in huge bulging masses. After treating it for several months with combined broadleaf weed killer and lawn feed the bindweed stopped growing out the lawn. Interestingly it would thrive right next to it in the flower beds, but never straying in to the lawn again. These broadleaf weed killers work well, they are long lasting and bond to the soil so they cannot wash out the lawn and damage your other plants, thus with regular treatments the soil for several inches under your lawn stays permanently inhospitable to broadleaf weeds like bindweed. While you might not be aware just how much bindweed is living in and under your lawn as regular mowing chops it off, I'm sure that a large percentage of the root system will be living under the lawn, which is why I suggest anyone who has large problems with bindweed starts their lawn on these chemicals. It's a quick and easy way to damage the root system in a large area. Every time the bindweed tries to grow up though my lawn it hits the treated soil and dies, so it's actively depleating the root system all the time. Some digging to plant a tree in the lawn recently exposed withered bindweed shoots that never made it to the surface.

I will be using this method in a cranberry field this year.
We have some large patches of bindweed which have survived everything I have tried so far. The patches don't get larger, now that I know they are there, but they don't get smaller either.
Thanks for the follow-up Bry.

-Bill

If this works you will be my garden hero~ I hate this weed but it loves my flower beds. Thanks for sharing. Debbie

I will be starting your treatment this weekend, Bry84! Thanks!

Bry48
In your first post you mention treatment with Glyphosate.
An acceptable method of treatment, but beware that Glysophate is a non-selective herbicide and will kill plants it comes in contact with, including desireable ones.

In another post that talks about lawn treatment you say, "These broadleaf weed killers work well, they are long lasting and bond to the soil so they cannot wash out the lawn and damage your other plants, thus with regular treatments the soil for several inches under your lawn stays permanently inhospitable to broadleaf weeds like bindweed".

The statement is very general and misleading since you don't name any specific chemical. Statements like this could end up to be be pretty damaging. Some broadleaf herbicides are very mobile thru the soil, some are more mobile in some types of soil than others, some are not that mobile in the soil and some are taken in by the plants and then excreted in the roots only to be taken up by nearby plants. This really depends on the specific chemicals (as well as soil type).

Since what is sold and formulated in your county may not be what is sold or formulated in the US, I urge everyone to read the label and don't be shy about calling the toll free number with questions before starting any application.

Weedkillers should allways be used correctly, they can be hazardous in a number of ways. However, as you said, I have not mentioned brand names, only glyphosate (a very common active ingredient) and lawn chemicals that contain broadleaf weed killers. This was quite purposeful. I don't want to advertise a specific product, in fact most of them contain the same few ingredients with small variations. Also, when I talk about the ingredients or type of product my suggestions are far more suitable for an audience who cannot allways go in to a shop and buy the exact same product that I'm using. Glyphostate is available in the US, and pretty much the rest of the world, it's probably the most common domestic weed killer, one of the more famous brands which uses it is roundup. I also refer to weed killers by their active ingredients as it's important to educate yourself and know what you're using, being able to name the brand is not enough. I can walk through a store and tell you what all the ingredients in products are, what they do and how hazardous they are. If I find something unexpected I look it up before I buy it. Someone who cannot identify a glyphosate based weed killer and hasn't looked up it's potential for damage to the user, environment and their garden should not be using weed killer. When I say "use a product containing ingredient X" I honestly expect people to know or be able to find out what I'm talking about and be able to easily find it in the store, they do all list the ingredients on the packet.

Also, lawn weed and feed is available in the US, but the range is large and most people have a favourite, so I won't suggest one specific brand. However, they all have similarities, being from the same family of products. Since lawn products are intended to be used in lawns which are next to borders and have roots from desirable plants close by and under them, they contain broadleaf herbicides that do not leach far from the soil they first contact, otherwise you'd kill a lot of the plants in your garden. I really would be amazed if you could buy a domestic lawn weed and feed that leached herbicides more than a few inches in to the soil.

However, since all formulations vary a little and manufacturers provide different safety advice, I would be taking a far more dangerous route to try and give generic safety advice without knowing the specific product that someone is intending to use. The people who make these products are responsible for that, and the people who use their products are responsible for reading the advice and following it. In fact, I believe they're also responsible to read more information than the info found on the average packet. So, I do entirely agree with what you are saying, these products must be used properly and carefully, but I can't concede to giving bad advice since I did not include any safety advice to be considered bad. Nor will I start giving safety advice that could easily be inappropriate for the product that someone is using. My inability to give complete safety advice is the reason why I choose to give none, people must find it for themselves.

Has anybody tried this method with Japanese honeysuckle or English ivy? Bindweed doesn't even come close to the horror either of those two weeds inspire in my area (well, except for the naive people who think those awful things are pretty ornamentals!). The honeysuckle can be cut and pulled, over and over and over again, but it always seems to come back from the deeper roots I missed. The older vines that were left here for years are also quite woody near the base and after wrestling with a few of them for an hour or two to get them out of the soil and off the chainlink fences, I can feel it in my back. But I can't even get that far with the ivy - very difficult to pull, not to mention unpleasant to pull since roaches seem to love hiding in it. And the ivy puts its nasty little roots everywhere it touches...even if I get a piece of ivy up, it just breaks and the roots from a few inches down the stem will still be there. I dislike using chemicals, but I dislike watching invasive exotics encroach on native plants even more. I'm about ready to go out there and tackle the tangle of vines in my backyard with chemicals, if I can find something effective against them. I'm also trying to figure out the most effective way of removing two very tall Eleagnus shrubs the previous owners planted, without putting anything poisonous into the soil; I want to plant native shrubs there as soon as the Eleagnus are gone. Any suggestions for non-poisonous ways to get all those Eleagnus roots up after I cut the tops off the shrubs?

If you can't remove the roots of the Eleagnus physically, you can always dab the freshly cut stumps with a herbicide containing triclopyr or glyphosate if it is labeled for such use. Only a small amount is needed, and it will travel in the plant to kill the roots.

English ivy is commonly controlled with glyphosate, but if you choose this route, you will need to use a rate recommended for difficult to control woody plants, and add additional surfactant in the spray mix. Ready to use products will not work well. As always, keep all spray off desirable plants and follow all label directions. The application can take place during the late fall and winter, however, which will spare your herbaceous native plants that are near or within your ivy.

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try to dig up the Eleagnus roots before resorting to poison, but I have no idea how large or deep they are at this point. The shrubs themselves are about 6 feet tall, so I'm thinking there are probably some monster roots there. The trunks of the shrubs are less than a foot away from the house, so that might hinder digging the roots out, too.

The ivy isn't near anything I care to save...a few scraggly hostas, some sunburnt cannas, a single withering wandering jew, all planted by previous owners, and all in places where I would like to eventually put something with some wildlife value.

I usually either hand pull or lift things out with a pitchfork, so this might be a stupid question, but is it safe to use strong vinegar, like the kind that's used for cleaning? It seems like that would break down pretty quickly (or does it?) and I've heard it will kill plants it comes in contact with. Will it kill the roots or just the foliage if it's used? I hate the idea of using any kind of weed killer that has the potential to persist in the environment. I also don't want to put any of the many tree frogs, lizards, birds, caterpillars, and other animals out there at risk. But I don't know what to do about these well-established invasives.

Regular household vinegar will work for small annual weeds but is a contact killer and will not be absorbed into the roots of the plant. Anthing stronger is not safer imo to use than the chemical glyphosate. Few vinegar formulations are labled specifically as an herbicide and can cause serious eye damage as well as respitory problems from the fumes.
Well established natives are a pain and those that deal with these on a regular basis use a combination of tools to eradicate. You might want to do some reading on the below site about the different weeds you have and the variety of eradication methods that you could try.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Nature Conservancy-Invasives web page

Well Hello all garden gnomes!lol

Bry...I did try the coffee can method in a few areas outside my interior fence and it seems to be working...Yay! I have told anyone who asked me what the heck I was doing, what the 411 was....this place is 1 acre mind you.
Now inside the fence I was much more careful, and resorted to religious spraying with a very dilute solution, ummm due to the fact I have 2 very curiuos kids and well didn't want them to later give me grandkids with 3 ears and only eight toes ya know.lol

Sprayed the old garden area especially cuz that is where it was the worst. anywhere else where there is alot of human contact or near my raised garden beds, I hand pulled, it helps to have a heard of neices and nephews (whom their parents dont garden) and they somehow love mine and are so willing to work in it, and it helps to pay them 2 pennies per weed....we kicked @ss on weed patrol!

So my big dreams of "layin the smaketh down" on this crap is now becoming a light at the end of the tunnel!
HOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
I hope all is well across the ocean!!!

Peace,
JunkGypsyMT

Hello all,
How did the rest of the season work out JunkGypsyMT? Did the root system collapse for you too?
Is there anyone else out there who has tried this coffee can method. I would like to hear some feed back about everyones use of this method.
Thanks again,
Kaspr007

I'm thinking of using Bry's treatment on my bindweed.

Is there any way that the roots of the bindweed, in absorbing the poison, could "carry" it to other nearby plants and kill them? Has anyone experienced this?

Someone on another forum told me they'd heard of it happening, and it sounds like an urban legend but it still scares the crap out of me.

Kristin

>>>Is there any way that the roots of the bindweed, in absorbing the poison, could "carry" it to other nearby plants and kill them? Has anyone experienced this?

Most roundup and brushbgone type killers are only absorbed through foliage, which is above the ground. So I don't think there's much to worry about in that regard (unless somehow the roots of each bindweed plant were grafted to more desirable plant, which is probably unlikely if at all possible)

from what I've been told and read, these chemicals break down extremely quickly in the soil and thus don't last long enough to effect any root systems.

Its been a while since I read the package, but I recall they say that you can start transplanting into an area that's been sprayed within 48 hours without harm to the new transplants.

all those facts (and my own experience) seem to imply that the "poison traveling through roots and soil" is just an urban myth. (at least with regards to the RU and BBG sprays)

sure, maybe if you accidentally kick over a bucket of 50% concentrate it may find its way into the roots of innocent plants, but I don't think the soil will be corrupted for the long term. So if you're doing the "stem dip" trick, just use care to avoid spillage.

All that said, extreme caution should be used when spraying. Even on a mildly windy day some overspray will land on nearby plants if you don't pay attention to the direction of the breezes. If its a finely misted spray, you won't even know it has landed on "good leaves" until several days later when you see the telltale peppered bleachspots. Whether that kills the good plant or not will naturally be determined by that amount that landed on it, along with its overall sensitivity to the killer's active ingredient.

Hooray! I've been battling this in my garden for years. Going to try this method this year, looks like a winner.

After struggling with bindweed for five years, today I began the bindweed war. I followed Bry84's advice, but I used plastic individual water bottles and crammed several strands of bindweed in each one as far as they'd go. I dug out holes for the bottles so they couldn't tip over, and then filled the bottles with full strength Roundup. I'm hoping the mass of stems and leaves in the necks of the bottles will seal the Roundup inside. I'm going to try to convince my next door neighbor to do the same thing--I'll even supply the Roundup. I think my bindweed came from over there. The sight of all those little bottles sticking out of the ground is not lovely, but if it prevents lilies, liatris and everything else from being pulled over and strangled, who cares? Unwinding the strands of bindweed from the stems of other plants is indeed hot and tedious (it's 90 degrees here) but what a nice feeling to think of all that poison being sucked into those nasty white roots! I'll keep ya'll posted on the results. Thanks Bry84 for coming up with a doable, common sense solution.

Well, is it working for everyone?

Lee

O.K., here's what's happened since the beginning of the Bindweed War on May 31, with apologies for being so longwinded:
I initially set out ten little containers (cut off water bottles, 1 qt mayonnaise jars, pickle jars, anything I could find). I dug out several inches of soil with a trowel and buried part of the containers as closely as possible to whatever plants the bindweed was strangling and deeply enough so the jars wouldn't tip over. I carefully disconnected several strands of bindweed, rolled them up and crammed them into the containers. I mixed up a gallon of Round-up--full strength, since I forgot Bry84 said to dilute it a little, poured some into a very small watering can from which I removed the rose, and filled the containers about 3/4 full, making sure to cover the leaves. After a couple of days, the leaves in the containers were brownish. After a week, the parts of the vines not immersed in the jars looked sick, and after two weeks they were black. I left the jars in place until the bindweed stems were almost transparent (about a month). Then I cut the vines at ground level, leaving them in the jars and pulled the jars out of the ground. I've repeated the whole process in different locations.(I have a lot of bindweed). Of course, care in pulling up the jars goes without saying, and getting them away from anything living before removing the dead vines is a given.
Some notes:
Be extra careful not to step on the vines, pulling the Roundup soaked bindweed out of the jars and splashing surrounding plants. How do I know this?
Rainfall overfilling the jars is not much of a concern, as evaporation occurs in the natural scheme of things. We've had periods of unusually heavy rain this summer, followed by several weeks of none, and the liquid in the jars has remained about the same height. Just don't fill them to the top initially.
The good news: I've noticed a dramatic reduction in the emergence of new bindweed sprouts, and the patches I've killed have stayed dead. It's becoming increasingly clear that this is not a one-summer operation. I must have about a hundred separate colonies in my perennial garden (which isn't all that big), and, although I'm gaining the upper hand, the accursed weed is by no means gone. To Bry84 I say, thank you, thank you, thank you. Years of pulling and digging and painting RU on the leaves made no difference and this method has. It's wonderful, though labor intensive, and all those little jars poking up through the soil are not lovely. I've had a little browning of surrounding plants, see warning above, but nothing has died. It's worth a little damage to get rid of this bane of my existence. I can't recommend this method highly enough!

wow...glad i ran across this! i'm in idaho, and bindweed is horrid here. i don't much mind it in its place (i used some to provide quick shade for my cat-run, opposite and isolated from where i don't want it).

interestingly, after ripping it out last fall (or what was left of it), that was the last i saw of it: perhaps there wasn't enough sun for it to flower.

i decided to "test-run" this business of coffee-cans where it was most needed: in my overrun back lot, where i've planted day lilies and calendulas along the outer fence (i needed some place to put each until i find homes for them).

i sank the only two cans i could find, did my level best to unwind the 'weed and pack it into the cans. then i used the regular round-up (not the concentrate) to cover what was in the cans (it was almost the last of the gallon or so i'd bought).

i also sprizted the bindweed sproutlings that weren't long enough to go into the cans.

it's good and hot here, so...we'll see...

I put a new area into a vegetable garden last year. The bindweed was really bad, but I hoed it down every couple of weeks. This summer I have been hoeing it every few weeks too and it is getting smaller and not very vigorous.

Every time it is hoed, it saps some of its strength so it doesn't respond as well to growth.

Bindweed also doesn't do well when it is shaded so if you can shade it, it comes up really spindly. The vegetables do a good job of shading.

I think next year there will not be much of it left. So it is hard work hoeing, but it does work.

I found this site doing a search on "how to kill evergreen morning glory." My neighbor planted this plant from mars, and I can't get rid of it. It has been growing all over my back fence, plants and trees for the last 5 years. I have to pull it out by the barrel full about every 2-3 months. I think this plant must have latched onto one of our space shuttles. I've never heard or seen, until now, a plant that can not be killed, or that grows so dang fast. Well, I'm going to try the can and herbicide solution. You know, I'm actually afraid to leave my bedroom window open at night worried this thing might crawl into my window one of these nights and strangle me while I'm sleeping!

This is an old thread, but I wish I had found it sooner! I'm in Idaho and field bindweed is everywhere. I tried digging down deep (went about 2 feet) and it was twisted and growing that far beneath the surface. I had a nightmare about it attacking me!

Anyway, I'm going to try this coffee can/jar thing. What a smart idea! I'm adding to this old thread just to get it up there on the search engines. Everyone needs to try this.

Yeah, Emily...me too (wished I'd found it sooner). Didn't know name of it until I recently posted another post, which ironically is titled "How do you kill this weed from Hell" --- how it's been described here...LOL.

You can check out that post, too, which is getting daily activity and as well, I'm going to post in it that THIS post exists.

The process here makes sense but I'm so reluctant to let mine get big enough since once it does, the rest of my garden is so mature that I can't get really reach it. Hmmm, what to do, what to do?

Good Luck !
Bonnie(aka brit5467)

I have been using this method of jars and dilute RoundUp for several years after reading the original post by Bry84. It has greatly reduced the bindweed in my gardens. I usually let it make a big mass so I can stuff it all into the jar. If it is still little, I spray it or pull it right away. I don't let it have a chance to wrap around the flowers because it is a pain to unravel. I wish I could thank him personally for his very genius idea.

I noticed that someone said bindweed doesn't like to grow in shade. Really?? I'm in central OK and the most vigorous infestations I have in the garden are all in the shady areas where I have azaleas, hosta and other sun-sensitive plants. The bindweed seems to love it, as well as the fact that there's a big chain link fence it can climb after it reaches the tops of my poor plants. I keep trying to rip out every new little start that I find, but it's a losing battle. I think I'm going to invest in one of the wand applicators for weed-killer, since it isn't possible to spray or install the bottle method in all the garden areas I need to control.
We have 6 acres out in the country, and have several overly vigorous natives growing here. Wild honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, and naturally, poison oak. It has been excessively hot this year. Yesterday the temp hit 114 degrees and everything seems to be suffering from it, except those weeds.

Pat

Here is a link to non-chemical alternative controls to Bindweed in case anyone wants to investigate them.

But I gotta tell you - altho I am an organic gardener and never thot I would use Round-up, this case of bindweed, the spawn of the devil - is an exception.

As soon as it stops raining here, I am going to try Bry's methods, and I thank you in advance, cuz it seems to work from what I am reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alternative non-chemical control of bindweed

When wrapping the strands up in balls, and placing them inside the jars, do you cut the eds off so they take up the weedkiller, or just leave them as is?

Thanks.

Donna

Never mind - my question was answered above.

The above link to alternative bindweed controls is great.

"Field bindweed grows in low- to mid-elevations where it is found on cultivated lands, pastures, gardens and lawns, roadsides, railways and other disturbed areas. It favors dry to moderately moist rich soils and soil types of heavier texture but can also persist on poor, gravely soils. It is capable of surviving long periods of drought. It is not tolerant of shade and is unlikely to persist in late succession plant communities."

Thoughts on how to work with nature a bit to get rid of bindweed in the veggie garden...
*Shade it out with DENSE plantings of a cover crop- I grew radish as a cover and there was bindweed next to the bed and in the other planting areas, but not with the radish.
*try a lasagna garden and hand pull and bindweed that pops through your kill mulch of cardboard or newspaper.
*if you're worried about your neighbors bindweed try planting a native tree and shrub hedgerow around your land- bindweed doesn't like late succession habitats, and will naturally avoid those areas. Bindweed is just one of natures attempts to establish a forest- it's an early succession crop and disappears as shrubs and trees begin to get established. ---- Also if you do this with mulched basin earthworks (basically pits with mulch) around your property you hold in most of the rainwater which helps your ground water table and water quality, makes your land more drought resilient, and helps your community by providing a small flood buffer.

Newbie here. We moved to a house with very established bindweed and thistle last year and, being entirely overwhelmed by the move, the bindweed went to seed.

This year, with help from this thread, I'm taking a three-pronged approach:
1) weeding baby bindweeds CONSTANTLY
2) black matting in the area where we planted the new plants and
3) consistent round up application - round up directly on sprouts and the weakened round up in the jar approach nearer to the main root.

Thus far - and it's June - the bindweed has been manageable and the garden has not been taken over by this PITA weed. Hope to have this under control this year. Will f/u and let you know how it goes.

Just tried Bry84's method...
I used 12 oz. soda cans, and buried them almost up to the rim. The cans aren't perfect , because I can't see through the sides. I was careful to put them where the lawnmower would miss them, and where the big standard poodle wouldn't bump into them. I stuffed as much bindweed as I could down inside. I used the Roundup concentrate, put almost a capful into the soda can, and filled the rest up with water. Then covered the top with a layer of clear plastic and a rubber band.
Sounds okay?
Crossing my fingers!

This post was edited by b2alicia on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 23:42

Biological controls:

1) Bindweed moth :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyta
http://www.arkive.org/four-spotted-moth/tyta-luctuosa/
Inhabits grasslands, and is usually found on south-facing slopes with patches of bare ground. It requires a source of the larval foodplant field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

2) Bindweed gall mite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceria_malherbae
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/Adams/weed/pdf/BindweedMite.pdf

Sources of biologicals (bindweed controls available to Colorado residents):
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef125.asp

Why is there such a hatred for bindweed? This plant is a good friend of mine. Once I tried to poison it and it came right back up. I am so ashamed that I did that. Don't you all realize that this "weed" is a fertilizer? Yes, the roots go down deep, so deep and they bring up all the nutrients that rain and water take down.

What I do is turn it under every time it comes up. Yes I have to pull it away from the plants. But eventually when the plants mature it weakens from lack of sunlight. In some cases it can shade the tomato plants from the sunlight which causes sun scald on the maturing tomatoes.

Like I said I love Bindweed. He is my garden friend and he visits quite often and we chat and then I turn him away. But I know he'll come back, he always does. Sometimes I let him stay. It all depends...

Different strokes, I guess...I have enough good, garden-worthy plants without having to make room for weeds. Not saying this is the above poster, but some people need to justify their weed-infested garden by thinking that EVERY plant has some worth...

Bump!