Bindweed is an invasive plant that wraps its stems around other plants in the garden to grow.
Although its flowers can have a certain charm, it is above all a parasite that can harm your plants!
How to recognize bindweed?
Bindweed can be recognized by its twining stems,
its elongated heart-shaped leaves
and its trumpet-shaped flowers, which can be white or pink in color.
Pergola, fence, vegetables or shrubs, it takes support on all the supports that come its way to develop at great speed. This is how this weed ends up taking up all the space, even if it means depriving other plants of water, light and nutrients.
Also read: American grapes, invasive and potentially deadly
What are the different species of bindweed?
Field bindweed can be recognized by its small pink flowers, which only open in the presence of sunlight.
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No use without permission.
We can be confronted with two types of bindweed in the garden: field bindweed and hedge bindweed.
Field bindweed (
Convolvulus
arvensis
)
can be recognized by its small pink flowers, which only open in the presence of sunlight.
Rather creeping, it is found mainly on low plants and on vegetable garden crops, around which it twists.
It then ends up depriving them of water and light, which can ultimately reduce the quantity of harvest.
More formidable, the
hedge bindweed (
Calystegia sepium
)
has white flowers that are a little larger than those of
Convolvulus arvensis
.
It develops several types of stems, twining or creeping.
Other stems, devoid of flowers, allow it to root in the ground by producing very traceable rhizomes.
This is how it invades the garden, and this is what makes it much more difficult to eradicate than field bindweed.
Why am I overgrown with bindweed?
Bindweed arrives in the garden thanks to its very fertile seeds, brought by the wind and birds.
It grows in compact and clayey soils, but above all, rich in nitrogen, often due to excess fertilizer.
or unbalanced compost.
Very resistant, it fears neither cold nor drought, and develops very quickly thanks to its tracing and prolific roots.
How to limit the spread of bindweed?
As mentioned above, bindweed multiplies aerially thanks to its seeds and underground thanks to its rhizomes.
To stop the invasion, the first thing to do is
to remove the
intruder's flowers before they develop into seeds in your garden.
You can also place a good layer of
mulch
on your soil to slow down the growth of the plant, and rebalance the soil with a fertilizer low in nitrogen to deprive it of its preferred nutrient.
Read also Natural mulching: a valuable boost against drought
How to get rid of bindweed?
Once bindweed has established itself, it is quite difficult to get rid of it.
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No use without permission.
Once bindweed has established itself, it is quite difficult to get rid of it.
Care and perseverance are required to eliminate this stubborn plant.
To fight against bindweed, avoid using tools (spades, tillers) which could cut its rhizomes: this is the best way to see it multiply in your garden!
Instead, prefer regular
manual uprooting
, taking care to remove the stem and as many roots as possible with it.
The roots of the bindweed being quite deep (up to 50 cm), you must then use a grelinette to decompact the earth and remove the deeper roots.
Another effective method, solarization, consists of
depriving the bindweed of light for a long period
, from 18 to 24 months.
You must then place an opaque but water-permeable canvas over the invaded area, or a thick layer of cardboard, then extract the roots once the plant has weakened.
However, be careful not to cut them!