The Evil Vine

For the first 4 or 5 years we lived in this house I did weekly battles with bindweed. It grew up into the privet on the north side of our backyard. At first I pulled armfuls (depriving the plant of the photosynthesis it needs to live and making it weaker, or so I hoped), and slowly over the years I won the battle. The last couple of years I rarely saw a leaf, but if I did I pulled it immediately, in fact I had forgotten about it completely until I saw this…

This is an old unused garbage can where I tossed the roots I dug out of the area where the privet was removed. Since the ground under the privet was formerly covered in ivy and vinca I wanted to make sure I got it all out (or at least as much as I could) before I started planting. The clods of clay soil make the debris quite heavy so I’m slowly working it into our yard waste container. I went to grab a couple of handfuls and discovered the bindweed growing happily where none had been two weeks earlier. If it’s growing like this with no water or light for months what does that mean for the bits I might have left behind, in the soil?

Yep…"They're ba-ack!"

I’ve read about weeds that can lie dormant in the soil for years, until just the right time to unleash their weedy fury. Looks like I’m going to have a battle on my hands…

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.