02-22-2005, 10:28 PM
Morning Glory! This particular variety of morning glory will grow just about anywhere around here, and is almost impossible to fight. We had some at our old house, and it would swallow the entire backyard in less than a season if left unchecked. It spreads via underground runners, so you have to dig down 10 feet or more to take the plant out by hand, and even then if you miss a little bit, it will come back.
I don't like to use pesticides, but I will admit that I have used them on the morning glory in the past. Most of the time, though, I would just pull the shoots up by hand, knowing that I was making the problem worse by leaving the runners underground. I would have to take it off of our raspberries constantly, or they would be pulled completely down to the ground by the morning glory, even though the raspberries were staked. Raspberries are already pretty thirsty plants when they're blooming, too, so the morning glory didn't help.
We even had some come up through a crack in the cement in our greenhouse. It is a persistent little plant. Luckily in this house we don't have much, if any, of it, although we do have wild blackberries trying to invade. I don't think the blackberries are alien, though.
Another alien invader is Scotch Broom. Scotch Broom has taken over a lot of the wild open spaces around here, particularly towards the coast. Every year, there is more and more scotch broom around, and fewer other kinds of plants. They are pretty, but they are killing everything in their path.
I don't like to use pesticides, but I will admit that I have used them on the morning glory in the past. Most of the time, though, I would just pull the shoots up by hand, knowing that I was making the problem worse by leaving the runners underground. I would have to take it off of our raspberries constantly, or they would be pulled completely down to the ground by the morning glory, even though the raspberries were staked. Raspberries are already pretty thirsty plants when they're blooming, too, so the morning glory didn't help.
We even had some come up through a crack in the cement in our greenhouse. It is a persistent little plant. Luckily in this house we don't have much, if any, of it, although we do have wild blackberries trying to invade. I don't think the blackberries are alien, though.
Another alien invader is Scotch Broom. Scotch Broom has taken over a lot of the wild open spaces around here, particularly towards the coast. Every year, there is more and more scotch broom around, and fewer other kinds of plants. They are pretty, but they are killing everything in their path.
Why can't we all just get along
--Pete
--Pete