A new client has a 100ft long, 5ft x 5ft hawthorn/holly/hazel hedge completely covered in bindweed - bindweed is, in fact, all you can see and the hedge is, not surprisingly, dying. Ripping it off will be a temporary solution, and I do like the following from Mark Seaton in a LJN discussion back in 2008:
Try the Glove of Death! Get an approved pesticide glove or unlined glove over your hand, place an old wollen glove over the protective glove, spray an approved diluted Glyphosate based product over the woolen glove, but not to run off, then literally 'wipe' the Bindweed like you were stroking it and this way you can control any non woody weeds without damaging desirable plants. Good for controlling grasses sticking through heather etc and similiar problems with weeds and grasses that need controlling where chemical overspray or run off will cause a problem.
Do not over fill the woolen mitt otherwise it will drip. Top up as required and dispose of woolen mitt safely. This is not an approved method of weed control but a very practical methodology if you know what you should be doing...
I was wondering/hoping, however, whether there have been any developments in effective hedgerow-safe bindweed control in the past couple of years since this topic was last aired here? Ever hopeful...
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I'd hate to treat bindweed in a hedge by using a wiping method to apply the glyphosate. Could you cut it all down to the ground and clear it, then carefully spray the new growth at ground level without damaging the hedge?
I've spot-treated bindweed on laurel before; a dab of undiluted with a paintbrush on each leaf, and making sure you don't have rain forecast that could cause runoff. At least with a glossy leaf like the laurel you have some hope of not causing too much damage if it does spread. The wipe-on method is far more likely to get everywhere no matter how careful you are, and the hawthorn and hazel are going to suffer.
Alternatively, cut to ground level and put canes along the length, angled away from the hedge. The bindweed will grow up the canes and can then be easily treated with the glove method. This will take a few goes, but the client has to appreciate that bindweed has amazing roots that will be very happily entwined through the hedge. I'd be thinking about at least three years to crack the bulk of it, with spot treatments every year thereafter. It's a fiddle in the first couple of years, but very effective over time.
The Glove of Death only realy works well on bindweed when the plant is in flower and comming to end of its life.
I know as i have tryed for many years to remove it from a hedge in my own garden.
Not 100% sure why, but i think its to do with speed of growth.
Any translocated weedkiller will work best when the plant is naturaly dying back. The weedkiller is sent straight to the roots, where it does most good.
Just cut a branch off a vigorous tree in spring to see how the sap pumps upwards!
Michael james Holland said:
It's a large area to deal with but I have found pulling it out on a regular basis to be the best way to deal with it. I have an area on one of my sites and it's 12 months down the line with barely a bit of growth to be seen, though it does still show now and then.
If it is that bad , I reckon that physically pulling it out to give the hedge some breathing space and a light trim is a starter, even if you cant get it all out it will die back in the winter. I would then carefully zap the new growth as it pops up on a weekly basis in the spring. Depends on what the customer wants to see, is willing to pay for and what patience he has................and careful of the nesting birdies!!
Many thanks all. Oh for a species-specific weedkiller! I think it will have to be:
1. rip it out as best I can (not even the birds can access the hedge at the moment the bindweed is so thick!)
2. use a mix of angled stakes, careful zapping, and taking the long view!
Roundup Gel
It is sold in an applicator like the deodorant gel. you can apply it by wiping on leaves witjout contamination of surrounding plants. ideal for ground elder, jap knotweed etc. pretty much like paul and his paintbrush.
With regards when is best contrary to the above comment about when by Paul. THE BEST time to apply any translocated weedkiller is when the weed is young and growing vigourously. As an athlete when running the 100m is breathing heavily and the heart is pumping like mad, so is the metabolism of the young weed respiring heavily and photosynthesising heavily so will suck up the active elements of the weedkiller more efficiently and thus will be killed off more efficiently.
When a plant is 'actively dying' then it is not taking up water/nutrients. it wont be photosynthesising etc. therefore why apply a translocated weedkiller to a plant that is dying ??????????????????
It is not a simple case of SAP ( a simplistic term) rising through the roots and moving upwards. water + nutrients enter through the roots and pass via many different methods into the plant for many different purposes.
Glucose ie. sugars are produced through photosynthesis and are moved up/down/sideways etc. to provide energy in growth and developement.
Kevin
www.gardencoaching.blogspot.com
Kevin
Duncan said:
kevin -
A slight correction to your statement on Weedkillers though you are in the most case correct -
With many perennial plants - at the end of the growing season they withdraw most re-usable nutrients back into the root system, along with the multitude of sugars and proteins they produce over the season. This is an Excellent time to kill a plant with Gyphosate, and other similar acting herbicides, as they are drawn down into the root system with everything else. The results are not instant, but the herbicide will do its damge, be it screwing up the hormone system of the plant (IE Auxin inhibitors such as Aminopyralid) or something simpler like Glyphosate just preventing cells from growing and working. In the case of say, a shrub or tree loosing leaves for winter, Glyphosate would be taken back down to the roots and do alot of damage, as the tree grows additional cells to store the "retreating" sugars underground for next season. This entire process is disrupted if not stoped all together, either killing the tree over winter or resulting in a tree starting up next season with minimal reserves - a follow up application in spring would finish such a weakend plant off.
Obviously the more responsible and quicker way would be to treat a plant in spring when active grown means that the plant is using up its reserves, before adding to them, and you can "do the damage" so to speak, when the plant has little "give" in its system, be it food (sugars) or raw materials (Phosphates etc), as everything has been used for spring leaf flush, but not yet started rebuilding reserves over the summer.
Kevin Barnett said:
You're quite correct. Spring is preferable and the earlier the better as weeds as you know out compete for the sun and if left too late then very difficult to get at amongst the plants you want to keep.
Kevin
David Cox said:
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