Q How can I rid my new garden of bindweed?
Anna, by email
ABOB SAYS I am afraid it’s not easy if you don’t want to use weedkiller. However, there’s hope as long as there’s none in any of your neighbouring gardens. (If there is any bindweed in adjacent properties then you must all work together to destroy it as individual gardens will be re-invaded as fast as they’re cleared.)
To be sure of eradicating bindweed, I would lay turf (or seed) over the whole garden, borders and all, and mow it frequently for at least a year, preferably two. Only when I was sure it had all gone would I plant.
Then after that first year I’d plant trees, shrubs and standard roses on single stems as these can be easily moved around. When another year or two had passed I’d start adding borders and vegetable plots, etc. Until then, though, I would grow what I needed in large containers.