I have been having a small battle with Bindweed myself. Luckily I knew long ago what a thug it is and so I've been vigilant to remove any sign of it as soon as I see it. But some grows just out of reach on the other side of my neighbor's fence. So I'm sure I will battle this thug forever.
But I am persistent. I have experience with thugs. When I moved to this property two years ago I discovered two other foes. The front bed was thick with Chameleon plant. No amount of spraying would get rid of it. Last summer I resorted to digging up the whole large bed, two feet down, and sifting all the dirt to remove every last bit of rhizome I could. Then I left the bed empty for the season so I could monitor any returns. Those I hit with a strong dose of round up. The bed is planted this year but I still find tiny babies of Chameleon plant here and there. These must be from left behind seed. They are easy to pull out and are not connected to any "mother". I suspect I will forever have to closely monitor the area and stay vigilant.
My second nemisis is Horsetail weed. I cried and cried when I found this all over at our new place, not only in the flower beds but also in the lawn. My grandmother has long battled this weed and I learned from her that if you try to dig it all out it makes it worse. I know that not only is there the part that comes up from the soil, but the mother deep in the earth. For this reason Roundup does not work because it does not go deep enough to kill the mother. It thrives in moist, lean, acidic soil with low oxygen. The first thing I did was remove all the wood mulch in the beds, since it thrives with moisture. Then, EVERY SINGLE DAY, I went around with a plastic bag and plucked every piece I could find. I was especially vigilant to find the spore bearing stems before they matured! I plucked A LOT! I was careful not to leave any broken pieces behind. (Some sources say not to pluck the stems because a new plant just forms. I plucked and improved the soil) Then as I planted the bed I made sure to enrich the soil with as much compost as I could. My beds have a great deal of clay so I also used perlite to help aerate the soil. I wanted to add peat but did not want to raise the acidity, so this year I added ProMix to the soil since it does have lime to balance the peat. The one thing I did not do was actively raise the pH because I had a mix of plants I was planting and wanted to keep the soil as neutral as possible. However, I am told that applying lime does help over time. That was last year. This year the problem is much more under control. There is only a bit coming up here and there. Again, any I see I just pluck and I continue to work to break down the clay and improve the soil. I found this article helpful
http://www.maine.gov/agricultu...
This was in the flower beds. The lawn was a different story. I was impossible to clear it out. This year I tried an Ortho product that you spray on the lawn and it kills the weeds and not the lawn, can't remember the name but I was specifically looking for 2,4d. I did not expect it to work because it said it was for broadleaf weeds and horsetail is definitley not broadleaf. But to my surprise it worked like a charm. Horsetail disappeared. But I am no fool. I know the mother is still there and it will come back. Since I do not have the money to remove the lawn, change the soil, and replace the lawn I will do what I can. I will aerate and continue to use this weed killer again in the spring.
