Honeysuckle and field bindweed?

[snowbunny]

Hullo! I'm just back from a weekend of lovely garden-based activities at my new Spanish property. I'll post some pictures up later, but for now, I have two questions.

Honeysuckle - specifically, killing it
There were two huge honeysuckles covering the side of the house when we bought it, blocking the windows. I chopped them down to the bases, which can't be dug out because they're in built-in concrete "troughs" which form part of the patio area; I assume the roots will continue under the patio and I really don't fancy digging that up! But, you've guessed it, three weeks after taking it back to the ground, I return to find loads of new, already very long, shoots creeping and crawling their way around the house again. Don't get me wrong, I like honeysuckle... I just like my new house more! So, any suggestions on the best way to kill it?

Field bindweed.
There are a few patches of this here and there over the 1 acre garden area. The whole area is wild at the moment, since the house has not been lived in for ten years, so it's not as if I don't already have a big job ahead to get it back to something usable. I've never dealt with bindweed before, though. I'm not averse to it, since it's really quite pretty (we have the pink variety), but should I be considering digging it all out? If it's as bad as I'm led to believe, I'm surprised that it's not already covering everything? It's all over the local area, so I assume if I do choose to wage war on it, then I'll be fighting the battle from here to eternity as it continues to re-establish itself. Elsewhere in field edges and alongside the roads, I've seen it slightly more rampant than we have it on the property, but nothing that looks too scary. What are the views on letting it be?

Thanks!

[Snoop Puss]

I have no idea about the honeysuckle, but we have masses of field bindweed. It will smother and climb up anything you put in the garden. If you're intending to leave the garden wild, then no problem. And you're right: if you do decide to wage war with it, you'll never win completely. Even so, you will be able to keep it down to manageable proportions. I try and remove it wherever I want to put something of my own, but not get too stressed out about it elsewhere.

Good luck in your new place, by the way.

[Muddy_Boots]

I use the Alan Titchmarsh method of doing battle with bindweed.

His method is to use the properties that bindweed has against it which is its desire to wind around anything and everything in an attempt to smother and take over.

He suggests that wherever you see bindweed is to put a garden cane next to it so it starts to wrap around the cane and grow up it. When its grown up enough of the cane so there are a few leaves you then put on a rubber or latex glove and wet it with neat concentrated Roundup weedkiller, only wet it don't have it dripping off the glove as you don't want it to splash on anything you don't want to kill. Now gently stroke up and down the cane the Bindweed is growing on so it wets the leaves (no mucky thoughts people, getting to know some of you lot now lol). Then leave it and wait for the plant to collapse and die which also kills the roots and saves having to try and dig half you garden up and half way to Australia in a bid to get it all out. That way you can get it even if it appears within all your plants without affecting anything else next to it.

[snowbunny]

I think the bindweed we have is the creeping variety, rather than the climbing variety, so not sure the cane method would work. I shall try, though!