Removing Morning Glory From A Lawn
How do I rid my lawn of morning glory vine? I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
I pull mine out by hand. You have to be very vigilant.
That is what I’m doing , too! I think it’s going to work!
I have read that trying to pull them out by the roots is the worst thing you can do, because each tiny broken root will grow a new plant!
I am sorry you want to get rid of your morning glory. I get it that they can become invasive. Have you tried to train it up a pole/trellis and keep it controlled? They can be so lovely when they are controlled.
If you truly want it gone, it is a long process you have to get every vine going to the end and getting all the roots. It may take one or two seasons to make sure you have found them all…as their roots/feelers travel.
Chemicals can be used, but I avoid them at all costs because not only do they kills off other things you may want, but if you have dogs, stray cats or children in the neighborhood you could be setting up for a dangerous situation. Plus these chemicals leach into the watershed and can poison drinking water
Good luck!
If you ask most people about using chemical means for killing weeds most will say no they do not wish to use chemicals because …….
This is a popular question on ThriftyFun so you might want to read some of the previous answers/suggestion:
Sow Idealized Plants In Problem Areas
In Plant Beds:
Most gardeners still want greenery in the plant beds where they took morning glory down. If this is your wish, the best solution is to plant small to mature bushes and shrubs in the same area. This is because bushes and shrubs have deeper root systems that are already thriving. They do not have to compete with morning glory to grow or stay alive, as newly sown seeds or smaller plants would. My husband and I chose orange rocket barberry shrubs. Your local garden center will have an array of shrubs native to your area that will thrive in the soil on your property.
On Lawns:
- Pinch the heads off any existing morning glory plants so the sun is not able to provide much energy for photosynthesis and growth through the double-lobed leaf heads.
- You can then reseed or overseed any sparse areas of your lawn with grass seed in early spring or early fall when it is not too hot.
- Cover this grass seed with about a 1/4-inch of compost. The key is to have the grass seed germinate and fill the lawn before the morning glory-friendly warmer temperatures come along and invade more of the soil space.
How Do You Stop Morning Glories From Taking Over
Below are a few instructions to stop Morning Glories from turning invasive in your garden.
- Mow the vine low and mow often. Rake and remove all the vine debris. Dispose of it carefully.
- You can treat the cut stems with a systemic herbicide. It becomes easy to spray on the cut stems. You will get rid of the vines easily this way too.
- You can suffocate this invasive vine by placing a layer of UV-stabilized plastic sheet over it.
Happy Gardening
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How To Get Rid Of Morning Glory
The only way to eradicate morning gloryapart from herbicides, which we never recommendis to make sure that none of the vines remain in your garden. That means you have to pull up every last vine of the stuff because it will come back quickly.
Getting rid of morning glory is a long-term project. Youll need to fight several battles to get rid of the vine. The good news is that you can keep up on your morning glory eradication when youre doing other garden chores, like deadheading, watering or trimming.
Before you start pulling, take a thorough look around your garden. Morning glory loves any vertical structure, so look over every side of a fence, lattice or hedge. Inspect any area where youve seen the vines from top to bottom.
Helpful Products From Gardens Alive
Q. Mike: I’ve been thinking about adorning part of my fence with annual morning glories this summer, but have heard that this fragrant, fast growing climber has the potential to become a perennial problem as it self sows and can ‘take over’ the garden. Should I think twice about this? If I am willing to ‘take a chance’, must I be adamant about preventing each flower from going to seed? Or is the ‘self sowing’ overrated in our USDA Zone 6? Thanks,
- —Loyal Listener Alison in Villanova, PA
- —Jan in Highwood, IL
A.trueIpomoea
The vines are not self-supporting, so they are typically grown over a fence, or up string running from the ground to the roof of a building. The individual flowers are ephemeral they open a rich blue in the morning, become purple in the heat of the day and then crumple and die that same evening. But there can be a lot of them, and every flower gives birth to a seedpod that will drop its distinctive dark, little rock-like seeds onto the ground for next season.
It really isn’t that hard and if you prevent seeds from dropping over the summer, you will get zero volunteer vines the following year.
Q. Morning Glories have taken over a raised flowerbed in my backyard. Every year I have to constantly pull them out. We have even sifted the dirt thru a screen. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have on getting rid of them. Thanks,
- —Donna in Bensalem PA
- —Karen in Whitinsville, Massachusetts
NOTA.
& nbsp& nbsp*
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What About Using Boiling Water Salt And Vinegar To Kill Bindweed
Unfortunately, none of these methods will get rid of bindweed. And, if each may damage your garden soil, flora and fauna instead.
- Boiling water will wilt top growth a bit, but it wont kill the roots.
- And salt or salt water will just add problems to your soil.
- As well vinegar may kill back some leaves and stems, but it wont destroy bindweed roots.
How To Kill Morning Glory Preventatives
This section looks at options for keeping bindweed out of your garden and preventing it from taking root and spreading. Youll get tips for selecting the right types of soil, confirming your soils health, and making future weed growth more difficult. Our suggestions help you keep your garden weed-free and happy.
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How To Kill Morning Glory In Concentrated Spots
For the least labor-intensive solution, you can use the Green Gobbler, which is a broad-leaf weed killer distilled from corn. I have used this weed killer in garden patches where I don’t have any other plants I want to save. I spray the leaves, shoots, and stems on vines I cut so that the solution absorbs into the plant in multiple spots for maximum effectiveness.
The Green Gobbler is approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute as it is free of glyphosate, phosphates, sulfates, VOCs, petroleum solvents, chlorine, fluorine, and ethoxylates, and is approved for organic gardening.
This product is best used in areas where you are not concerned about killing other nearby plants. You will need to spray the Green Gobbler on any morning glory that pops up on your property throughout the growing season. This will help greatly reduce morning glory infestation issues in forthcoming years. This product is also ideal for use on dandelion patches or other broad-leaf weeds.
A gallon covers up to 1,000 sq ft, so it is long-lasting as well. It is best to cut the vines down as much as you can first so that the product covers the maximum amount of ground space needed.
If instead you have a full landscape you need to treat that is interspersed with other plant types you need to save, you can try my three-step solution below.
Is There A Selective Herbicide To Kill Morning Glory/bindweed In My Ornamental Flower Beds
I have many types of perennials throughout my yard and I would like a herbicide which will not kill my perennials but will kill bindweed/morning glory. I have previously used Grass Out Max and it worked fantastically in my flowerbeds without harming them. Now I just need to get rid of the morning glory.
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What Is Bindweed And How Do I Control It
Field bindweed is a very aggressive cousin of the morning glory that can be challenging to control.
A relative of the morning glory, field bindweed is an invasive perennial weed that can be quite a challenge to get under control. See, while it may look harmless with its little white trumpet flowers, bindweed grows aggressively. It will happily vine its way across the landscape, over shrubs and fences, and even up and around trees and poles, taking delight in choking out other plants as it grows. Thats why you wont be surprised to learn that its considered invasive.
For gardeners, bindweed is a serious nemesis, requiring dedicated and often repeated efforts to kill it. The sooner you deal with bindweed, the sooner you can prevent it from taking over your landscape and garden.
Our Mission Is To Sunlight Starve Wild Morning Glory And Other Undesirable Weeds And Vines In The Landscape
These are the steps we need to take.
1. Since these vines tend to climb into and all through the plants in our landscape we first need to pull them out of the shrubs but not necessarily break them off at the ground or attempt to pull up the roots. Chances are youve already tried to uproot them with little long term success. In this case we are really trying to untangle them from the desirable plants without harming them. Sounds crazy doesnt it.
Just untangle them and lay them out horizontally on the soil, roots still happily attached in the soil.
2. The next step is to cover them with cardboard or a fairly thick layer of newspaper. In this situation cardboard is best, but if you dont have it use newspaper at least 9 to 15 pages thick. Keep in mind, our goal here has two purposes. We want to smother the living weeds and at the same time make certain that no sunlight reaches the soil where they are growing and where ungerminated seeds might be lying in wait.
3. As you layout the cardboard or newspaper start at the back of the bed and work yourself out of the bed. But do only one section at a time, maybe 24 to 30 wide, then apply a nice thick layer of mulch over the cardboard or newspaper. Apply mulch at least 2 thick, 3 is better. The mulch will hold down the covering material, pressing it firmly against the weeds and the soil and at the same time it will also help to block any sunlight to the soil.
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If You Do This It Will Work
Not forever, but hopefully you will chase away the worst weeds in the landscape.
Pam and keep our beds mulched and we keep up with the weeding. We never have flower or landscaping beds that over run with weeds at home.
Questions or comments? Post them below and Ill happily answer them for you.
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How To Plant Morning Glories
- Germination rates are improved by filing down the seeds just enough to break the outer coat, then soaking them for 24 hours before planting. This encourages them to send out a root .
- Cover lightly with ¼-inch of soil. Space seeds about 6 inches apart.
- Water thoroughly at planting.
- Seedlings should appear in about a week.
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What If Bindweed Roots Are Entangled In Desirable Plant Roots
- In the blink of an eye, bindweed will climb your shrubs and trees.
- And when it engulfs the tops of your favorite plants, carefully unwind the vine from its branches all the way to the ground.
- Then dig out as much root as possible.
- Moreover if bindweed roots are mixed in with the roots of perennials, you may need to dig up everything.
- Then rinse soil thoroughly from the roots.
- And hand remove all of the morning glory bindweed roots before you replant your perennials.
- As well you not want to transplant any of those perennial divisions elsewhere.
- Thats because it only takes a tiny bit of missed bindweed root to move the bindweed along with your divisions.
- And if you have patch of land full of bindweed and you want to plant a garden into it, be sure to clear the bindweed before you plant.
Check Your Soils Health Regularly
Wild Morning Glory is an opportunistic weed and prefers poor soils that damage less-hardy plants. High potassium and magnesium levels in the soil are also attractive to Morning Glory.
A garden with soil issues is one thats ripe for a bindweed invasion, and the garden stays vulnerable until you do something to resolve the problems.
- Lime
Some regular attention on your part helps to prevent this issue. Check your soils pH every week, and add phosphorus, calcium, and decaying plant matter to rebalance the earth.
Give the ground a good tilling to combine it and rebalance it, too. If the pH is too high or low, add aluminum sulfate or lime to bring it back into the range your garden plants prefer.
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Are All Varieties Of Morning Glory Invasive
No, not all varieties of Morning Glory vines are invasive. Some varieties of the Morning Glory vines have been declared invasive in the US.
Ipomoea nil is a variety of Morning Glory that doesnt turn invasive at all. In colder climates, they dont turn invasive easily.
There are many varieties of Morning Glory that arent invasive at all.
Spray A Weed Preventative
Manual efforts get you most of the way to a weed-free garden, but bindweed can still slip past you and make it into your yard. Prevent the weeds from getting a grip in the soil with a weed preventative spray.
A good weed preventative inoculates your garden against infestations and gives it another barrier against wandering bindweed. Every three or four months, spray down your garden with a weed preventer like Preen. Spray the bare soil with the preventative, making sure to hit every spot.
Try to schedule the spraying during a dry spell so the rain doesnt wash the weed preventative away. Spray areas where you recently removed Morning Glory as well as spots you wish to protect from future growth.
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Dig Out Small Morning Glory Patches
You dont have to treat all bindweed infestations with kid gloves. Isolated and small patches of new plants growing on the gardens borders or away from garden plants can and should come out as soon as you encounter them.
Mowing can control above-soil growth on your lawn, too. Bindweed root systems are stubborn, though, so make sure to remove all rhizomes as well.
- Trash bags
Use a shovel or trowel to dig around the borders of the weed patch. Dig under the root system, which can extend as far as ten feet below the surface.
Avoid composting the bindweed, as this can result in further infestations. Instead, double-bag the weeds in trash bags, seal the bags with tape and throw them away.
Removing unwanted plants by hand is also an excellent poison ivy plant killer. Be sure to wear protective clothing when handling this rapidly-spreading and potentially harmful weed.
How Do You Steam Morning Glories
- You may want to steam the Morning Glory vine. You can use garment steamers to achieve this. There are garden steamers too. By steaming the vine youll not only kill the foliage but also the roots.
- Wait for a day and trim the vine near the roots to get rid of it for good.
- Dont pull out the Morning Glory vine in hopes of killing it. If you pull the vine out, itll only grow thicker and spread more roots.
Tip: Plant bushes and shrubs in this area. Take good care of them until they establish themselves.
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Discourage New Growth With Mulch
Even if you keep an eye on the soil and treat it well, it is still vulnerable to weed growth. If the ground is visible, seeds can get to it and take root. Its possible to take action to prevent bindweed from getting the upper hand, though.
All plants need air, water, and sunlight to grow, and that means that if you remove one or two of those elements, you prevent weed infestations. A layer of black plastic mulch or wood chips does just that.
- Gardening gloves
Once your garden plants are tall enough, shovel a layer of mulch onto your garden bed or flower bed. Make sure its thick enough to prevent sunlight and air from reaching ground level.
If you maintain this mulch layer, you create a barrier that prevents invasive plants from taking root. Morning Glory seeds wont be able to thrive, and your garden plants stay above the mulch and receive as much sunlight as they require.
