Allotments 4 All

While I weeded my lottie today I noticed the dreaded bind weed starting to sprout under the raspberry canes I inherited. Ive only had the plot for a couple of months so have no idea what other persistent weeds will appear in the next :o
Is there any way to get rid of bind weed without damaging the raspberries? I know its roots go on for miles so cant think of a way to get at it without destroying/uprooting the raspberries, gooseberries & black currants it is hiding beneath. 

Without moving your raspberries I'd just remove it as it grows.

Thanks Mick thats what I thought would be best for now.
Im pretty sure any kind of mulch will just help it to get established unnoticed so will keep hoeing regularly instead.

Do you know if its roots will spread under ground to the rest of my plot even if I regularly lift it?

On my allotment I find that digging it out during the non growing season makes me have a little less each year but then in that time I dig and weed my beds up to 10 times each. (that may explain my bad back)

Thanks Mick...well thats my regular allotment job organised then  :D
Oh well it could be worse I suppose. 

Mix up a solution of glyphosphate and apply with a paint brush.

Hi Vortex I would neve have thought of that. I will investigate doing this once the heavy rainfall stops, really dont want to risk damaging raspberries

The paintbrush method does work, but is very slow.

I put a stake in the ground, somewhere close by, and let it grow up the stake, even giving it a hand now and then.

Once there are a good number of leaves, wait for a windless day and carefully spray with glyphosphate.

If the stake is still close to the raspberries, use a bit of plastic sheeting, or cardboard, to prevent any spray reaching your plants.


In autumn, once the berries have finished, replant them elsewhere and dig the bind weed out. When spring comes, you'll still get baby bind weed plants, but theses are easily removed with a small trowel.

an alternative to the painting method:

Cut the top and bottom off a 2 litre pop bottle so you have a plastic tube.

Place tube over bindweed

Spray it to death  :)

Have the same problem myself but I have just laid my hands on 25lts of Roundup so let battle commence :)

Yep, mine's back with a vengeance, even on a section that was covered in black plastic for nearly 2 years. >:(

Try using a disposable rubber glove.
Tie a knot in all the fingers ( optional ) put the poison into the rubber glove and push in the growing tips of the bind weed the tie off or put a rubber band round the end. The poison does not get washed off and the plant is absorbing all of the poison.

If you don't want to use poison, you could leave the rasps till autumn, pull the bindweed as you go during the summer, then lift everything and get rid of the roots over the winter, That wouldn't affect the rasps much if at all.

Thanks for all your ingenious ideas, given me loads to think about  ;D

Yes, I inherited a thick overgrown row of autumn raspberries full of couch and bindweed, and in the winter I moved it a metre away, pulling all the weeds out of their roots as I dug them up. I got quite a lot of fruit the next year and LOADS subsequently.

Quote from: caroline7758 on May 17, 2008, 07:36:14
Yep, mine's back with a vengeance, even on a section that was covered in black plastic for nearly 2 years. >:(

When I first took my plot on, I left half of it under black plastic.

When I finally removed it, I found that the bindweed loved it under the plastic - I mean really thrived.


Today's proverb - Don't go thinking black plastic will stop everything from growing.  :(

Just done a first spray on the dreaded bind weed this morning hope the mixture I have used is good enough to get rid some of it but I can see it being a long job :)

Since bindweed seed can remain dormant in the ground for years wouldn't digging up the raspberries be questionable?  Just wondering.

In my case, the bindweed hadn't been allowed to flower, at least. It takes bindweed a long time to flower and set seed and it's not too bad picking the flowers off.

If you mulch around the rasps thickly it helps them, and the seedlings can't get through.