Invasive Vine

I have a severe problem with Periwinkle.  It is a broadleaf evergreen vine that keeps its glossy leaves in winter. It’s fast growing, making a six-inch (15-cm) thick weed-suppressing mat, rooting from junctures in its long tendrils as they spread along the ground.  It has a pretty blue flower, which saved it from immediate attacks.  Had I known what it was like, I would have killed it immediately!

It is very difficult to eliminate.  First, the roots grow several feet deep, so it just resprouts when pulled or cut.  Second, it is basically immune to most herbicides (water-based, like Round-Up) because it has a waxy coating on the leaves that repel water.  It takes an oil-based one (and those are seriously nasty).  Third, even small bits of it will rereoot on ground-contact.  Fourth, the stuff grows more vigorously than English or Poison ivy (and I have those too from the Southern neighbor).

I didn't plant it!  It spred into my yard from the yard East of me.  That place seems to get new residents every few years.  One from 2 or 3 times ago planted it and it came through the fence.  It was a relatively ignored area with a few hardy shrubs.

The neighbors after the one that planted it were able to get rid of it by mowing.  Their yard was void of any landscaping.  Constant mowing exhausts the roots and it dies.  I am not that lucky.  It is growing in a narrow strip between the fence and garden.  A regular push mower can fit, but it is a real pain to maneuver.  A gas mower is powerful enough, but mine died a few years ago and I bought a good electric one.  But it can't handle such a tall thick mat and I have to lift it around a few obstacles.

It can be killed with oil herbicides, deep repeated digging, regular mowing, or smothering under black plastic.  Through my failure to kill it where it entered the yard, it has gotten among my perennial beds.  I can't use any of those methods there very well.  I could dig up all the perennials, pot them, and watch for any growth in the pots.  I'm getting too old for that.  

I may have to redo most of the perennial bed.  It is old, and most of the flowers have been dying off anyway.  The Euonymous and Butterfly bushes need to be removed due to age or growing out of control.  The dwarf apple trees it is growing around have never produced edible fruit (squirrels and insect pests ruin them every year).  In fact, if I cut down the dwarf apples, I can use the wood in the smoker/grill.

That would allow me to get in the whole area to mow the periwinkle rototill it, and then cover it with black plastic for a year.  Apparently, that would be sufficient.  Or I could just get a landscaping service to do it.  And then replant it myself the next year.  

I can still do that myself.  And I know a lot more about good perennials and bushes than I did when I planted it 25 years ago!

But dang, periwinkle is an evil vine!

Tomorrow, the perennial bed at its prime...