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Gallium vs Vinca Minor

CostumedVoleCostumedVole Posts: 257
in Problem solving
I posted a short while back about eradicating a 25 year old mat of vinca minor, and I now have an empty bed which I am keeping a firm eye on. It's my current intention to keep it lying fallow until spring to allow me to get on top of the stuff, although I am impatient by nature. I have ordered some gallium to plant underneath one of our two 100 year old copper beeches, the one which is not in the vinca bed, but I was wondering if I planted some in the vinca bed, whether the resulting grudge match as the vinca and gallium slugged it out would help smother the vinca or just make it worse. Which would win?
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    What's gallium?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited July 2021
    Probably Galium odoratum, sweet woodrush. It's supposed to be good ground cover in shade, but I tried it once and it did nothing much and slowly died out. 
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • CostumedVoleCostumedVole Posts: 257
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/10/sweetness-woodruff-lingers-down-ages-shropshire-country-diary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Oh god, I have spelled it wrong! Is there an edit button?
  • CostumedVoleCostumedVole Posts: 257
    JennyJ said:
    Probably Galium odoratum, sweet woodrush. It's supposed to be good ground cover in shade, but I tried it once and it did nothing much and slowly died out. 
    Yes, sweet woodruff. That’s the stuff. Sounds like it’s going to get hammered by the vinca. Sigh. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We have Sweet Woodruff and Vinca Major … they live happily together as long as the woodruff gets enough light and moisture. It needs more of both than the vinca. 

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





  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I have dry sandy soil here and I think the Galium likes more moisture. Vinca on the other hand does very well, making evergreen ground cover where nothing much else grows. You can have too much of a good thing though 🙂. I hope the Galium does better for you. 
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Ah - I couldn't think what it was!
    I'd agree- vinca can cope with almost anything, but woodruff does prefer some moisture. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CostumedVoleCostumedVole Posts: 257
    Thanks for the comments. It will probably not get enough of either to outcompete the vinca. It is dry shade underneath a vast copper beech. It does rain pretty hard here in Manchester, but I don’t think it will be enough in that area. The vinca had formed a 25 year old mat which covered everywhere and made it pointless to consider planting anything else. I have cleared the bed and want to make something nice of it, but I know the vinca will just come back and ruin it all. I hoped the galium would help a bit but it doesn’t seem like it will. 
  • CostumedVoleCostumedVole Posts: 257
    Sorry for the spelling! It kept getting autocorrected to gallium (which must be a real thing) so I assumed I was wrong. As a former English teacher, I am humiliated!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Something you could try is Saxifraga urbium [London Pride] 
    It'll grow in shade - wet or dry, and will spread if happy. It forms rosettes of foliage with little spires of flowers, and spreads readily when happy. Good ground cover, and easy to pull out if it gets ahead of itself. I have some in a corner beside/below the conifer at the back of the garden. 
    You could add some hardy geraniums to go along with it :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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