Global thermonuclear war

It is often said that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, the only living thing that would survive is the cockroach.

I think this is wrong. I think the only thing that would survive, and would probably actually thrive, is..

BINDWEED!

AAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!! Flippin stuff!

 

:lollol::lollol:Never a truer word than one spoken in jest.

 

vine weevil.......add that to the list....

 

Dont't forget Japanese Knotweed!

 

I've actually come to admire the tenacity of bindweed. And I actually think it's fairly attractive to look at when it flowers - it's related to Morning Glory, I believe?

But still, what a pain in the proverbial it is! I decided this weekend that if I can't beat it, even using chemical warfare, then I'd have some fun with it. In an experiment, I've done the following with bits of bindweed root that I dug up:

1) put a slice of root in a glass of water on the sunniest windowsill in the house
2) chopped the smallest slice I could possibly cut and put it in a pot of compost
3) put a slice of root in full sun on a windowsill to bake for a week or so. I'll then pot it up
4) put a slice of root in an empty pot, filled only with wet, chopped-up newspaper
5) poured bleach over a slice of root, then potted in compost

I will report back to see if any grow! (I bet they all flipping do!)

 

Love the experiment andrewh :D

 

To mimic nuclear fallout you should have microwaved a bit of root too :wink:

 

I bet it will still come up, It's coming intp my garden from a neighbours overgrown garden and it's even gotten to my satelite dish, careful, it's trying to take over the world

 

I think Montbretia is pretty indistructable, We Cleared the Garden of every living thing with the help of a JCB Dug 2 borders 5 times, lifted the old lawn, Chopped, Dug and Whacked the Soil down for the new Lawn and what do you know! There coming up through the borders and Lawn Grrrrrr..
PS Looking Forward to see what happens with your Experiment Andrewh

 

Bindweed is evil stuff, and I too had a major problem with it breaking in from next door's neglected garden.

I am still fighting it, but I'm doing well so far. That said, this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but maybe, just maybe, it is the end of the beginning.

Here's what I did, starting last year in late summer:

1. Rescued some civilians, Sage, Golden Rod, Oxeye Daisies, Rosemary and a couple of others, and placed them in containers on the patio. They were subject to quarantine for a while in case I'd lifted some bindweed with them.

2. Went on a Round-up Rampage, and blitzed all the flower beds, even with some of my less prized specimens still in there. I repeated the blitz every few days or so until the garden looked like someone had bust a bale of straw up over it.

3. Removed and binned said 'straw' (not composted, despite what it says on the Round-Up label I wasn't going to trust it that much).

4. Repeated the blitz, including spraying through the hedge on to the neighbour's side when I was sure nobody was watching, always using carefully aimed shots at the bindweed.

5. In early spring time this year I dug the flower beds over, removing any roots I came across.

6. I dug a trench about 2 ft deep by 2 ft wide right along the boundary with next door's, and layed weed control fabric along the bottom, curling up and out so that it came up to about 1ft above the surface, and stapled it to the trunks of the Leylandii hedgerow.

7. Planted up the flower beds.

8. Now I have included into my routine, a 'bindweed patrol', which involves me thoroughly scrutinising the flower beds armed with a wide tube and a bottle of Round-Up. When I find the bindweed, I place the tube over it to isolate it from my plants, and spray it.

Round-Up does kill it, but you still have a battle on your hands.

 

Tell me about bindweed. Just back from in-laws house tidying up their very neglected garden. I've never seen so much bindweed, but as they just want the garden looking tidy I didn't bother with trying to destroy it, just ripped up armfuls of it. If I had to actually garden in their place, I think I'd just run away. The stuff is everywhere!

 

A good chemical deterant is Amine 2,4-D. Its also good for ground elder and equisetum

 

If I had to actually garden in their place, I think I'd just run away. The stuff is everywhere![/quote]

Eerr weren`t you just gardening in their garden?:gnthb::D

 

I guess so, but planting, tending and nurturing were very much noticeable by their absence this afternoon. I'd call it more damage limitation:D