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Eradicating periwinkle

SwedboySwedboy Posts: 394
in Problem solving
I stupidly planted a periwinkle some years ago (got it in a garden sale) and it is taking over my garden. I would like to get rid of it as it is taking over. Sadly it's to entwined in everything that I cannot glyphisate it to an early grave. Is there anything you can do but just pulling it out until the end of time?

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    At this time of year cut it hard back as much as you can ... next spring when the ground is moist dig out the roots as much as you can without disturbing the rest of the plants, and then continue to cut back.  A few years of doing that assiduously ought to beat it. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • SwedboySwedboy Posts: 394
    Long term project. I suspected that. Maybe just tarmac the whole garden for a year might sort it  ;)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Nah ... I've seen periwinkle come through tarmac  ;)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • SwedboySwedboy Posts: 394
    Noooo
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited June 2021
    Just keep chopping it back ... it's not as bad as Horsetail 😂  ... we've got it in our garden (in the little wilderness area behind the pond) and we've managed to keep it there ... so far! 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • SwedboySwedboy Posts: 394
    Yes. Cant you eat the young shoot like asparagus or is that only Bob flowerdew who does that..
    Decades of mowing doesn't do it?
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited June 2021
    You can win. Although the stems get quite long, you can often trace them back to the main root which isn't that hard to dig out after a bit of rain. Although it roots where it touches, those stems are pretty easy to remove.
    It's a long - term project though. People don't realise that ground cover plants cover the ground and never stop  where you want them to . 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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