Identify this weed please

This started as one weed some years. It has a single thin white root which seems to go down forever. I've dug it/them out many times, but they always return. The patch they're in is now a nice rose patch, but there are about 15/20 of these weeds now. Unfortunately we have a dog who has real health conditions, and likes to wander around the soil beds, so I'm loathe to use a weed-killer, even before we go on a holiday in case it's still toxic when we get back. If anyone can help with ID that would be a start, and any advice on eradication. As I say it has a single fragile root stem but I've never got to the bottom of it to get the whole thing out. It eventually snaps, and then regrows. Thank you.

 

It looks like the smaller version of bindweed, does it ever get pink flowers.

 

I think it's convolvulus, the small bind weed. I've never got rid of it by digging but have kept it under control.

Glyphosate should help. Once it's dry it's not supposed to upset animals, but who knows? Keep your dog in until it's dry. It's hardly likely that he will eat it. My horse loved the dandelions at the side of a path in the village but when they sprayed them with glyphosate he wouldn't touch them.

 

I wasn't expecting these answers. It's hard to imagine it's any form of bindweed, as I'm all too familiar with the joys of bindweed. Bindweed from next door's garden spreads via the whiteish hairless roots, which are several times the thickness of the ones I've pictured - I know you call it small bindweed, but still. Bindweed root spreads laterally as well as or more than downwards. Although this newer weed has spread somehow, when I've dug in the past the root has gone straight downwards, and on clay I've followed it down to the "hard pan" where I have to give up. Bindweed, once it starts attaching itself to nearby shrubs etc has the giveaway white flowers. This stuff has never flowered, just spreads along the soil, and hasn't ever attached itself to nearby roses or shrubs, though I've left it untouched for a whole season at a time. I know I've zapped it years ago with glyphosate when we were between dogs, and it didn't seem to kill it finally so at a bit of a loss. We have a few days away soon so maybe I'll have another go, and see if the result is better this time. Thanks for your help.

 

I submitted the photo to https://identify.plantnet.org/, it came back with convolvulus arvensis (wild morning-glory or field bindweed) with 94% confidence. It is a much less vigorous plant than the white hedge bindweed. The flowers are very pretty and valuable to wildlife, so the only real problem is if it starts to twine around other plants. In that case I'd just break off the stems at the ground level.

 

Yes, convolvulus arvensis is the one I meant, also known as field bindweed. It grows quite quickly but is much smaller than bindweed with the big white flowers. I have it in some of my flower beds. It tends to sprawl along the ground until it meets a plant to climb up but I usually pull it up before it gets that far.

 

Oh thank you. As it kept re-growing, no matter how deeply I dug to try to remove the whole root, I was frightened it would be even more penicious than regular bindweed. I'll just pull them out I think, dig over, feed roses, get the plot looking decent, and wait......

Incidentally I've been hoping for some recommendations on a UK plant identification app, and/or weed ID app. I've come across PlantNet and PictureThis. I may give PlantNet a go. Thanks again.

 

I've never known glyphosate to kill any kind of established bindweed with one application.

Some weeds are more persistent and resistant, and need a few applications if you want total death, bindweed is one of those as quite often there is more plant under the ground than there is on the surface.

 

Lesser bindweed. I had it in the garden once. I stuck a tall cane in as near to its root as possible and when it grew up the cane, I put glyphosate gel on it, using my hands (wearing rubber gloves) to squish it on and crush the leaves a bit. It took a few repeat treatments over two growing seasons but eventually it stopped coming back. I don't know whether you can still get the good strong glyphosate gel though. It's tricky to treat by spraying because left to its own devices it will get in amongst other plants. Getting it to grow up a cane gets at least some of its growth in a place where you can get at it.

 

Two other tricks...cut the bottom off a 6" plantpot, place over bundled together bindweed stems and spray into pot. Or half-sink small jam jars containing glypho in the soil, stuff as many stems as possible in jar and rest lid on top. Leave for 4 weeks. Ideal if the weather's bad or where it really is in the middle of precious plants!

 

I'll second the last post. I have used the "stuff it in a jar method" with success several times.

 

I'm like Shiney and don't use chemicals. We have field bindweed on oir allotmemt and just pull it up when we see it and don't find it much of a problem, it just weakens overtime and eventually goes. We also have the more troublesome bindweed variety and follow the same method as Shine mentions but use a fork to loosen the soil as we lift. It's quite satisfying when you pull out a great long root.