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Periwinkle

sandy44

By Sandy44

cleveland, United Kingdom Gb

About 15 years ago I planted a small Periwinkle in my front garden and it has taken over choking most other plants. I have tried to weed it out but it has to good a hold. It even grew under the wall of my house and started to sprout from the skirting boards in doors. I would like rid of it all together. My friend has taken out all other plants and dug garden over but I know the Periwinkle will still come back. I have been advised to use weed killer and leave the garden empty until next spring to replant it or to dig out the soil to about 2ft deep and replace it. Please can anyone advise me. Thanks Sandy




Answers

 

Not sure that this is the final solution but I think what I would do is , if you have cleared it as much as you can, then every time I see a young shoot appearing I would spray it with RoundUp or similar and just keep at it and inspect the area every few days and knock back the young shoots over the course of this spring and summer. Only time will tell if it works. I tried that method with ground elder and with some success.

5 Mar, 2009

 

I agree but a little tip if you get "Roundup" put a little baby oil into the diluted mixture and then brush it on the leaves, the oil will help it to stick on and be far more successful. For a small area, or for an area you wish to avoid plants you do not want to exterminate, I would be inclined to put on rubber gloves and use a paint brush and carefully brush it onto the perriwinckle leaves. If it is a large area with nothing else to spoil, then I would put your mixture in a pan and dip an old soft sweeping brush into it and brush it over the leaves of the area you want to treat but avoiding your special plants. This way you will rid of the mass of it and any that survive after the paint brush method should controle it. May seem a lot of effort but not so much heart break as fallowing the whole garden!

5 Mar, 2009

 

Sally I made the mistake of taking cuttings of this plant and it was almost everywhere, I tend to keep the bully in check by just digging it up when I see it taking hold.

Its not too much trouble now I can keep it in check with my normal weeding routine but then again I do like weeding! Hel.xxx.

5 Mar, 2009

 

You can get brush-on glysophate under the brand name 'Tumbleweed'.

5 Mar, 2009

 

Sandy, see my response to Hollygate today regarding ground elder. Should also work for periwinkle.

5 Mar, 2009

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