Morning glory irradiation ......

[RINGO]

morning glory is rampant ! It's a nightmare.
Any ideas how to quell the beast besides "round-up" ?
It's killing off my raspberries.

 

[Durgan]

Morning glory is a nightmare. I planted some ten years ago and am still killing it. I am winning since zone 5 is a bit too cold for it some years, but some always survives. I only pull it out. In your zone it is trouble. Good luck.

 

[RINGO]

In the name of all that is holy , why would you plant it on purpose ?

(That's a joke and I hope you picked up on it )

 

[MaryMary]

Rip it out. Rip out ALL of it. After you rip out all of it, rip out some more.

I'd suggest getting a dandelion digger and trying to get out as much of the root as possible, and DO NOT let any of the flowers go to seed.

Upon looking at your first picture again... all those little flowers in the background at the upper right? Are those ALL morning glories? Umm...is it possible to move the raspberries somewhere else? I've been told they are fairly invasive on their own. That way you won't lose all your plants from strangulation!

 

[Durgan]

In the name of all that is holy , why would you plant it on purpose ?

(That's a joke and I hope you picked up on it )

In Zone 5 and colder Morning Glory is controllable and the flowers at first appear pretty to a novice. In warmer climates they are a disaster. The seeds are toxic and should b dispensed with carefully.

 

[Beth_B]

If this is anything like Creeping Charlie, I think your only option is to firebomb your property with extreme prejudice, move somewhere else and start over.

Seriously... I think @MaryMary got it. Move your raspberry canes; they'll do fine. The seeds from the flowers can broadcast quite widely so no on the flowers, though they are pretty.

Extremely persistent uprooting and weeding, over and over and over and over...will keep it under control. But probably never eradicated.

*True story. Early this summer I used a very naughty substance (after all else failed) to eradicate the grape ivy growing all over one side of my house. Worked like a charm. Killed everything, including grass and nightshade and everything. Except Creeping Charlie. It's baaaack.

 

[RINGO]

The stuff is a nightmare. It is rampant.
I'm considering naplam.

 

[Beverly]

Now, now, now...it will not be so bad as to need napalm. I live in zone 11 and MGs are native here and they don't cause much of a problem at all. I have them growing in my small garden on purpose (just one plant). These plants produce tons of seeds and the first thing you need to do is keep the plants from making seeds. Of course there are already seeds everywhere that will come up for awhile (maybe a year or two, not to mention donations from the birds), but not to worry. Cut back all the vegetation and make sure to cut any flowers that may make seeds. Do not compost any of the cut back vegetation, wrap it up very well in a biodegradable bag(s) and send it off in a garbage truck. Continue to cut back new growth and dispose of it in the same way. Then uproot what remains also dispose of in the same way. The nice thing about MGs is that the seedlings are fairly unique and easy to identify. From now on you will need to keep an eye out and remove the seedlings as as you find them. Some perseverance will be required but with very little trouble really the MGs will disappear, if you don't ignore any vegetation that is mature enough to make seeds. This is the primary way they propagate. I've never had a problem with root runners but it sounds like other people have. I have found that they uproot very easily with little effort. Don't panic and do something Mother Nature will never forgive you for. Actually, the leaves do not look like morning glory at all. MG vine leaves are heart shaped. I have never see MGs with leaves like that.

 

[RINGO]

Now, now, now...it will not be so bad as to need napalm. I live in zone 11 and MGs are native here and they don't cause much of a problem at all. I have them growing in my small garden on purpose (just one plant). These plants produce tons of seeds and the first thing you need to do is keep the plants from making seeds. Of course there are already seeds everywhere that will come up for awhile (maybe a year or two, not to mention donations from the birds), but not to worry. Cut back all the vegetation and make sure to cut any flowers that may make seeds. Do not compost any of the cut back vegetation, wrap it up very well in a biodegradable bag(s) and send it off in a garbage truck. Continue to cut back new growth and dispose of it in the same way. Then uproot what remains also dispose of in the same way. The nice thing about MGs is that the seedlings are fairly unique and easy to identify. From now on you will need to keep an eye out and remove the seedlings as as you find them. Some perseverance will be required but with very little trouble really the MGs will disappear, if you don't ignore any vegetation that is mature enough to make seeds. This is the primary way they propagate. I've never had a problem with root runners but it sounds like other people have. I have found that they uproot very easily with little effort. Don't panic and do something Mother Nature will never forgive you for. Actually, the leaves do not look like morning glory at all. MG vine leaves are heart shaped. I have never see MGs with leaves like that.

Yes mamm , the old boys here in the willamette valley , (old 80+year old farmers) tell me to spray round up. Only where needed though. Every day if that's what it takes.
I told a organic farmer friend of mine I was using round up. He said we all start some where. You need to control your issues first , then go organic. He told me the same thing. Only use it where needed. please excuse the crappy iPhone pics..........

 

[angelleann]

Wow, I have had this morning glory problem before and just now realizing it! I had planted some vegetables by seeds along with my larger plants. If I would have known what this was I could have attempted to get rid of it. Instead, silly me, I had thought that it might have been the result of one of my vegetable packets, as I had never seen it before. So I continued to weed around it and even fertilize the darned thing! Of course, it overtook my garden. I won't ever make that mistake again! Thank you for sharing your picture and solving my mystery!

 

[zigs]

Looks like what we'd call Bindweed, the morning glory that I know (one they make the drug from) has got purple flowers.

Crush several of the stem ends and weigh them down into neat roundup, cover to keep rain out and leave for a few weeks.

No good digging the stuff out, tiniest bit of root left will make a new plant