There I was, stretched out on the sun lounger feeling faintly smug, when something caught my eye.
A pale green tendril where no pale green tendril should be. Then another.
And in that horrible, slow-motion way these things happen, my gaze began to travel. Over the chair leg. Through the shrub. Across the border. Up the fence. Round one of my favourite plants, less flowering beautifully, and more being throttled in plain sight.
Bindweed. Everywhere. And then there are those dainty white trumpet flowers – all part of bindweed’s PR strategy.
Cut to me peeling myself off the sun lounger and marching towards the green tendrils, suddenly very aware that I was no longer off duty…
What's going on?
If you’ve had a similar experience lately, you’re not imagining it. While many of us – and plenty of our plants – have been drooping through Britain’s recent hot, dry spell, bindweed has been absolutely thriving. Not surviving. Thriving. Smugly, vigorously, offensively thriving.
What to Read Next
"Hot, dry weather suits bindweed because of its extraordinary root system," explains gardening expert Jude Allen, Head Grower at restaurant WILD's Wild Farm in Hertfordshire.
"Whereas many plants struggle in prolonged dry weather, bindweed can send roots down as deep as 10 metres, allowing it to reach water that other plants simply can't access."
In other words, while the rest of the garden is gasping and asking for a drink, bindweed is calmly helping itself from a secret underground reservoir.
As neighbouring plants and weeds begin to suffer, bindweed also faces less competition for light and space – which is why it can suddenly seem to explode across the garden overnight, just when everything else is looking a bit peaky.
Why bindweed is such a nightmare
Its botanical name, Convolvulus, comes from the Latin meaning "to twine" – which feels almost too charming a word for something so deeply annoying. Bindweed doesn’t just grow; it loops, winds, scrambles and smothers, turning up in the middle of prized plants as though it has every right to be there.
According to Jude, it has multiple ways of surviving. "It has an incredibly deep taproot to access water, spreads underground through rhizomes, climbs over surrounding plants to outcompete them for light, and produces around 500 seeds per plant," she explains. "Those seeds can remain dormant in the soil for up to 30 years." THIRTY YEARS!
Worse still, even tiny fragments of root left in the ground can grow into entirely new plants. So the bit you missed while sweating crossly into your secateurs last weekend? Yes, that may well be plotting its return.
The one thing you should never do
At this point, the temptation is to start digging first and thinking later: attack it with a fork, turn over the soil and hope brute force will do the trick.
Sadly, that can make things worse.
"Anything that chops up the roots, such as rotavating, ploughing or digging carelessly, can actually spread bindweed because every tiny fragment of rhizome has the potential to become a new plant," Jude explains.
What actually helps
There is, maddeningly, no magic fix. Instead, the best short-term approach is persistence: dig out as much root as you can, then keep removing any new growth before it has the chance to photosynthesise and feed the root system again.
"It won’t solve the problem overnight," says Jude, "but it does gradually weaken it."
Can you ever get rid of it completely?
In theory, yes. "If you continually remove every shoot and dig out as much of the root system as possible for around three years, you can eventually eradicate it. The reality is that very few gardeners have the time or consistency to keep that up," explains Jude.
In other words, total victory is possible – but only if you are prepared to treat bindweed like a long-term campaign rather than a quick fix.
"Successful control is really about knocking the stuffing out of it, rather than expecting it to vanish altogether," says Jude. "If you keep removing new growth, stop it climbing and setting seed, and encourage strong competing plants, you can gradually weaken it so it no longer overwhelms the rest of the garden."
So no, bindweed may not disappear overnight. But nor does it get to have the final word. With patience, persistence and a refusal to be outmanoeuvred by a weed with delusions of grandeur, it can be beaten back.
Those dainty white trumpet flowers may be part of a very effective PR campaign, but I’m no longer fooled. The battle is on – and this time, I’m ready for it.
Garden decor
Everlight Blooms The Riverlight Kingfisher – Glass‑Winged Bird Resting on a Leafed Stem
Haywards Garden Butterfly Puddler Set
Lily Faith Fox Small Wreath
Staycation Vintage Parasols Powder Parlour-Celadon Veil 1.85m Parasol
Handmade Sussex Large Summer Handmade Dried Flower Wreath - 70cm
