Invasive climbing weed

Please help me identify this weed. It is rampant in my hedge and smothers it very quickly. It dies back in the winter and it has just started growing again. The picture shows the young plant. It grows very quickly, the leaves grow to about 4 to 5" across. The leaves are 3 fingered, grow in twos, opposite eachother, on very long climbing stems. The stems are binding and also cling / scratch you. I havn't noticed any flowers. I presume it is a sort of bindweed, but I've scoured the internet, and I can't find a picture of one that looks like mine. If I know what it is I think I might find it easier to find out the best way to get rid of it as it very quickly blocks out all the light to my hedge and is killing it.
Also, if anyone has any ideas on killing it, I'd be greatful.
Thanks for your help.

 

The good news is it is not bindweed. It looks familiar but I can't think where I've seen it, sorry.

 

I thought first of ground elder, but it doesn't look quite right.

 

Hop family?

 

Thanks for your replies, I've decided it is a hop, - probably the male one as I've never seen any flowers.
I've read that it has tap roots going down 1.5 meters!, so digging it out is out of the question.
I've tried spraying weed killer on it yesterday, and its probably a bit early to tell, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of dieing so far. There are hundreds of shoots, and the hedge (mainly hawthorne) is probably at least 30m long.

Any suggestions of how to get rid before it kills my hawthorne?

 

Try using a Glyphosphate weed killer. That is taken down to the roots and kills them. For stuborn plants, you can crush the stems and leaves and then insert them into a polythene bad with some Glysphosphate in. This will keep the plant in intimate contact with the weed killer for day or weeks, even if it rains. And by crushing the stems you get the weed killer straight into the system.

 

As Peter says, Glyphosate based weedkiller. Round-Up has proven pretty effective in my War on Bindweed so far. Don't let the chemical come into contact with your Hawthorn though as Glyphosate is pretty indiscriminate.

If you can, carefully unravel the weed and detach it from the hedge before spraying it. Take care not to snap it off as the plant needs to be actively growing at the point where the glyphosate is taken up (leaves is best). It doesn't matter if you can't unravel the whole lot, as long as you get at least one shoot from each plant, as the plant will carry the herbicide from leaves down to roots, killing off the whole plant. In case you're interested, it works by causing a chemical reaction in the plant that reverses the flow of nutrients, so in effect the plant starves to death. Glyphosate leaves no residue as microbial action in the soil quickly renders it inert.

 

Its hop. Personally Id probably pull it up regularly as it apears.

 

OK, Thanks for all your help everyone.
I am going to try a combination of pulling and weedkilling - I'm not looking forward to it at all, especially as it isn't actually my hedge - it belongs to the church next door, but they don't maintain it, so its left to me ! .....boohoo.........

 

It will take about a week for the glyphosate to show it's working, so don't worry if it doesn't immediately fall down dead.

 

Or of course you could always make beer...

 

Pulling AND weedkilling won't be any more effective than just using one technique. You see, if you injure it, it won't take the weedkiller down to its roots effectively so weedkiller after pulling is a waste of money.

When I declared war on next door's bindweed when it invaded my garden, I was very careful not to damage it. I sprayed it every couple of days with Round-Up, and even when it was clearly dead I left it for a while just in case its deep roots were still soldiering on. Only when I was certain it was dead did I pull it out. Now it has gone from my side, but on my regular border patrol I see new shoots on next door's side dangerously close to my side, so I spray them as I see them, always without physically busting them, as I want them to take all that lovely glyphosate right down to their roots.

 

Ok, Yeah I get your point.

Its just that if it takes a week for the glyphosate to take effect, and if it grows at half a meter a day, (which sounds quite unbeleivable - but I know it does grow very fast), then the potential is there for it to grow 3.5 meters in that week!
So, I was thinking to pull up the longer pieces before they totally take over for another year, and treat the shorter bits in the hope that this would be sufficient to kill the plant.

-or do you think it would be better to cut the longer bits down short and treat the whole lot?

 

As Clueless says, the more leaf area is hit with the glyphosate, the more of it gets down to the roots. If you can, spray as much as possible without cutting it. You can pull out longer strands and treat them away from the hedge. I hold a piece of plastic sheet between the plant and the hedge as a barrier whilst spraying. Once it dies down it should be easier to pull it out of the hedge completely.