Bind Weed / Top soil

Hello

we have just built a raised boarder and had some top left from a previous project which we have used to fill the boarder

Unfortunately the soil became invested with bind weed last year which we treated with back to the root and thought we had cleared it

upon digging out the top soil and placing into the new boarder we have found various rooting systems buried quite deep - they are white, damp and crisp so I think that they are alive adn assume that it is the bind weed

I have removed what i can see but obvioulsy concerned that i will end up with bind weed in my new flower boarder as i'm bound to have missed some.

my partner wants to cover the whole boarder with weed killer therefore my questions are:

If we cover the boarder with weed killer how long till i can plant plants.

if we can do this what type of weed killer should we use

if we can't / shouldn't do this what can you suggest.

Many thanks for your guidence.

regards Karen.

Right

Forget about spraying the whole area now or at any time with weed killer.

Pick out what you can-when it does sprout treat emerging shoots with a glyphosate weed gel- like Roundup-it takes around 3 weeks to be effective so be patient

You are treating the weed not the ground and this works when the weed is actively growing and kills it down to the root and becomes inactive on reaching the ground so will not affect nearby plants.

In time -you will get on top of this nuisance

Even if you could use a total weedkiller (Sodium chlorate which  is now no longer available) the chances are it would not deal with the Bindweed if the roots are deep. also you would then not be able to use the area for 6 months or until all traces of the weed killer had disappeared.

Tanslocatable weed killer is the answer plus digging out as many toots now, as you can. Sad for you, terrible stuff to deal with.

Bindweed roots can go down pretty deep. I have it in my borders. In winter I sometimes dig roots out, there is no top growth then but I always find roots along the wall. It's easier in winter as the plants have died down and the roots aren't growing any fine new roots on them. Then if bindweed emerges later I spray with glyphosphate if I can manage it without touching any other plants. Then when everything is in full growth I just pull the bindweed out when I see it. I've never got rid of it but it's sort of under control. Glyphosphate only kills what it touches, it doesn't affect the soil (so we are told) and it works when plants are growing - so not in winter. Weedkillers that stop anything growing have mostly been banned and you can't plant anything for 6 - 12 months.