Two of my raised beds have been taken over by a weed with a white root (see photo) that can run parallel to the ground at the depth of a few inches. The root is quite strong and can be a number of feet in length and I assume it is strangling the roots of any other plant I try to grow. I tried to remove it in one of the beds by hand but in came back just as bad the following year. This string like root is about 2mm wide. I have thought of just treating the beds with a strong weed killer but the one I have says I can not use the ground for planting for 18 months. So what would you recommend?
1 Answers
Looks like the underground stems of bindweed. You can either:
1 dig it all out carefully,
2 cover the beds to exclude light with old carpet or black polythene,
3 or allow the weed to green up with new leaves and shoots and then apply Roundup as a once-off spray. This weedkiller is not carried in the soil and will not harm plants later.