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If anyone here has been invaded by the evil wild morning glory, you will understand my frustration. You can't pull it up by the roots because apparently the roots go all the way to China - and it seems like every time you break one of those roots, it just causes this junk to spread even more.
Anyway, it is taking over the front of my house. I have a retaining wall along the south side of my house which I have turned into a raised bed with asparagus, rhubarb, and other seasonal stuff. And this awful morning glory is trying to choke out all my plants.
I hate to use poison and it has actually been some years since I have - but nothing I do "naturally" is going to get rid of this crap, so I bought some Crossbow and a new sprayer with the intention of killing it off that way. But....I'm wondering if this is a good time of year to do it. I know for some things - like blackberries - the fall is the best time to spray because the sap is running down to the roots, and if you spray at that time, the poison basically gets a ride right down to the roots. But does that same theory apply to morning glory? Or, at this point, would I be better to spray it as it comes up in the spring? Or should I spray now and again in the spring - or would that be "over kill?" For obvious reasons, I would prefer to spray just what I need to spray and no more.
Round-up is probably your best bet. I'd get the higher percentage professional Round-up. Round-up has no residual effect in the soil. It only kills the vegetation it comes in contact with. If you have nearby plants cover them to protect them from the Round-up. Sometimes with heavy infestation you may need to re-apply the Round-up a week or 2 later. In the spring catch any small new growth before it takes over the other nearby plants.
Yes, I'm with Nitram. If you want to reuse that soil in the near future, I'm afraid you're going to have to go with Roundup (or another Glyphosate) weed killer. Yes, I've battled the stuff for years. Glyphosate, dig, dig, dig, dig, etc. I have actually dug beds 3 feet down and literally COMBED the soil in order to get rid of it, but it's always back, eventually. The trouble with it is you can dig the beds, but the sh*t is running under your driveways, under your house, your sidewalks, your lawn. If you could x-ray the ground and see the thousands of miles of layer upon layer of that stuff, you'd just give up gardening all together. LOL
Good luck... you might get it to the point where you're not having your plants drug to the ground by it, but you'll never completely irradicate it.....not even if you Crossbow the hell out of every inch of your property and put down asphalt. It WILL survive. Might as well accept it as a part of your family....the obnoxious Uncle Steve!
What is the genus and species of this particular morning glory you are having problems with in the Northwest? I have some here that isn't particularly troublesome where it isn't irrigated. What is there just seems difficult to kill. Even with roundup. And it self-layers as it grows over the soil.
Between the clover, creeping Charlie and morning glory, our lawn was a mess. We had a service come in and treat the lawn, and they fertilized and aerated the grass. They did a pretty good job, but it did take several applications to start killing that stuff. Our next-door neighbor's lawn is almost solid clover in the front.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Roundup does a lot better in sunny weather (yesterday may have been the last of that for the year) but when sunny and warm you can also use white vinegar, straight from the bottle.
Oddly, I have seen nurseries in other states selling the darn morning glories.
The trouble with morning glories that I have had is that they reseed like I have never seen. Brushing past a mature vine will cause an audible rain of seeds.
^ This is the purple, blue, ornamental variety with big flowers.
There is a more wild white-flowering morning glory around here that grows like a weed; I don't know if this type reseeds so heavily.
I've seen seeds sprout years and years after a vine was removed from the area.
I like morning glory. It's my birth flower (September.)
Somebody suggested it to me for a blank spot I have that gets a lot of sun in summer. Our harsh summers and icky heavy clayey soil have made it difficult for me to fill in plants everywhere I want them. So maybe I live in one of those states where they are a good idea..
Here in our neck of the woods, it's known as Field Bindweed or Convolvulus arvensis. Yes, reseed? OMG...just let a couple of those buggers get away from you and flower and now there's a whole new crop of youngsters to add to the, already huge root systems. Susque, I have seen the same thing. I've had them (the white ones) eradicated, then dug into the soil to add some amendments, only to have a huge amount of new babies sprout out. They're the most annoying weed in my garden.
Debsi.... don't do it. Yes, the flowers are beautiful and they will grow where nothing else will grow. I'm telling you though, if you get one of the obnoxious ones started, plan on growing nothing else. It will take over everything and travel where you don't want it to grow. Years ago, I planted some beautiful colored annual ones and loved them. They don't overwinter here, but those bindweed? No. Do yourself a huge favor and ignore that advice.
Julia, we have a couple of varieties of clover that are really tenacious and aggressive here too. Just leave one little piece of root and it will choke out everything. Terrible stuff.
Just wanted to add a piece as an urban city gal. I got a little pack of morning glory seeds, nursed them along nicely, was rather taken aback at their quick growth (a green thumb I'm not), re-potted them and placed them on my south-facing window sill. This window is about 8' wide x 4' long. Oh, my stars!! In what seemed like no time at all, I had a jungle growing in my window. It was wild. You could spot it from outside and I'm 5 stories up. The vines went after the other smaller plants in the window and seemingly choked the life out of them. They crawled up the window, wrapped themselves tightly around the curtain rod and started to journey out across the ceiling towards my light fixture. Seriously - this is a true story. What I had to go through (on a ladder) to free my blinds and curtains was mind-boggling. These guys hang on for dear life. Never, ever again on Morning Glories!
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