My battle with Convolvulus sepium (better known as bindweed) is one that I will probably never win. And, like so many people, I will not resort to chemical warfare because unlike them, I know that it will never be completely eradicated. It is in the same family as the morning glory, but lacking any degree of propriety in the garden. It grows overnight and I suspect, by day as well, never slowing its reign of terror. It loves to grow next to sidewalks and brick buildings where it is difficult to grab hold of. It can completely cover a chain link fence in only a matter of days. It camouflages itself, changing color and leaf shape to impersonate other plants and make itself less noticeable. It slithers up beside your garden plants only to strangle them while using them for support. It sends out a dozen or more winding tendrils from a single root, to out compete not only other plants, but also each other. It grows from its millions of roots underground that descend over 20 feet. It grows from pieces of the root and seeds from its innocent looking white to pinkish flower. If not kept in check, it can smother a garden in no time at all.
Laying down thick layers of cardboard and mulch, as I have done, only suppresses it for a short time. It soon finds ways to emerge from any space left uncovered. It will even grow through the layers of cardboard once it has begun to break down. Landscape fabric, which is often used, never stops it for long. When the fabric is lifted, a thick mass of its roots lie just beneath it. In time, it grows through the fabric as well. Bindweed is in no uncertain terms, tenacious; but so am I.
After returning home from the garden center the other day and setting down my newly purchased butterfly bushes, I noticed a bindweed vine that I had missed pulling earlier in the day. I immediately pulled it. And then, I saw another. And another after that and another… twenty or thirty minutes later, after having pulled numerous bindweed vines, I finally went inside. The garden that I started only a couple of months ago is slowly beginning to flourish. I will not allow convolvulus to destroy what I have spent endless hours, too much energy, and far too much money creating. I know the only way that I can win this battle is through diligence and persistence. In a couple of years when my perennial plants are established, when they have grown bigger and stronger, and less vulnerable to the evil vine that threatens them, my vigilance will pay off. I will keep pulling up bindweed and I will win.
