Bindweed problem in potential new do-dig bed

[SarahlouMember]

Hope you can help!

I am battling with bindweed (and a bit of bramble)on my patch. I am very keen to install no-dig beds and have read the website tips with a great deal of interest, but have a couple of questions…
1. If I put down some cardboard, then 6″ of manuure or compost, once the cardboard has rotted, does the bindweed still find its way to the surface? Knowing that bindweed starts growth from the smallest bit of root under the surface, I just assumed it would work it’s way to the top, even with a thick layer of mulch?
2. How does one deal with perennial weeds growing around the raised bed? My bindweed will surround the bed and presumably creep underneath the wooden edging boards. Not sure how to get round that one?
3. With a perennial weed problem like bindweed, when is safe to start planting in the manure/compost top layer?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[charlesModerator]

 Thanks for asking this question Sarah Lou as I suspect a lot of gardeners wonder the same.

You are right, the bindweed roots tend to migrate upwards through the rotting cardboard and mulch. If you have a great mass of bindweed, maybe put a black polythene mulch on top of the compost+cardboard and plant through it, then be sure to keep tweaking any bindweed leaves poking through planting holes, they should pull out easily. Bear in mind that doing this, you need to grow plantable veg such as courgettes, squashes, brassicas, leeks, potatoes etc (not carrots or parsnips). After a year of that the bindweed must be weaker,

However…. as you have realised, it will invade from the edges too, a potentially bigger issue and not peculiar to no dig. I have this problem in a few places and have to keep trowelling the shoots as they appear, with a few inches of thin white root. I mow my edges as short as possible, to prevent too much growth of invasive plants and seeds, but if the bindweed is really bad, maybe it would be worth putting black poly along the edge for a season. There is no single answer, it depends on your needs and time and materials.

As for planting, you can start as soon as the season is right. Often I have mulched and planted the same day, as long as the top layer is sufficiently decomposed. This means the vegetables grow well ahead of any perennials which emerge later, and is a very good thing for the gardener’s morale! Do keep pulling them out though, to prevent nourishment reaching deeper weed roots. 

All in all, bindweed seems to last for ever but it is possible to weaken it a lot and to enjoy great food while doing so. Also, with few other weeds being present.

[SarahlouMember]

Thank you very much for the info Charles.
I will give these ideas a go and hopefully the job will get easier over time.
Many thanks and I’m looking forward to coming on your course hopefully sometime in the Spring (my husband has promised to buy it as an anniversary gift!)

[caroline scottMember]

something i have used in very weedy ground is a root barrier around the planting area. this can be anything such as tiles, sheets of plastic ( chopped up for sale signs work well) that is pushed in below soil level, which then provides a barrier to weeds coming in from the area around beds..

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