I use Roundup full strength in an eyedropper. You have to be very, very careful not to drip on any ornamentals. Put a smear of the chemical on about 5 leaves of every offensive plant. It takes about two weeks to fully kill the weed. Less well rooted weeds than dandelions and wild morning glory take a shorter time to go to weed %#&*. Some well established weeds may need a second application.

I also use roundup to rid the garden of unwanted weeds but I use a small paint brush. I carefully paint the roundup on all the plants I need to kill being carefull not to drip on the good plants. Because I have plants planted in the small rocks around some of my beds I also use this method to clean out the unwanted plants from between these rocks. While this can be time consuming it is worth the work to kill the plant instead of cutting it back several times or trying to pull it and having it keep coming back up.

Getting rid of morning glory is an uphill battle as you may already know. My mother unsuccesfully fought itfor eight years before she got some real good advice two years ago.

If you leave one little piece of the root it will "Root" as nature unfortunately wants it to. So by pulling it you only make matters worse. Killing it off with pesticides doesn't work well as it is very resistant to it.
A master gardener here in Washington was able to help us understand why. It gets all its energy to survive the winter from its leaves. So this years leaves hold all the energy to survive and start producing leaves for next year. By removing the leaves to the plant as soon as they appear you will remove a link in the growth process. It takes patience and vigilance but can be done. Two years later my mother has completely eliminated all morning glory. I have passed this advice to anyone who needed it and it has proved sound over and over. The first summer is the hardest with the following spring much easier. The key is to get the leaves picked off. Don;t touch the roots as you'll only end up spreading the problem. Leaves are the key link in the plants growth now and later. Good luck and yes it will seem like your only going two steps forward to have to take one step back. It can be done and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Although with a neighbor having it rampant in his/her yard can almost guarantee a constant source of misery for you. I can't believe they even sell seeds for this noxious weed instores. Good luck!

WHERE do you people live? I'm in ONTARIO, Canada, & I've never heard of morning glories being "perennials" I start seeds every year to grow them in my yard. I can't imagine them rooting themselves & returning after winter.I wish mine could do that!I have a WEED in my veggie garden that has leaves resembling morning glory and it IS NASTY! It doesn't flower but gets pink/white seeds. Are you confusing this weed for actual morning glories? If they are actual morning glories, I would LOVE some seeds for this type!

Gale,
The weed you have in your garden sounds like Field bindweed, (Convolvulus arvensis L.) It is in the Morning Glory family, with arrow shaped leaves. Flowers are pink or white. Or it could be Hedge Bindweed(Convolvulis sepium L), which looks similar but with a blunt lobe at the base of the arrow shaped leaves. Maybe morning glory (Ipomoea), is an annual that readily reseeds itself in warmer climates.

I sure hope the morning glory takes off like yours did in Canada because I have full sun coming into our patio & I'm tired of the sun & heat(west). So this spring I'm planting Morning Glories. I hope they like sun. Good Luck...Kim

I visited Turkey several years ago, and saw trellises full of Morning Glories everywhere that were so beautiful. Turks told me they grow much easier than grape vines, and block the mediterrean sun very effectively. They used wires in Turkey to cover entire courtyards with a roof of leafy flowers.

I also want to plant morning glories to block sun, also in austin texas. Will Morning Glories only last a year in this climate, or will they return every year as some say?

Also, if I want to grow them in a pot on a balcony up off the ground, what size pot and how many plants per pot should I use?

Yes, I'm a newbie at gardening in general, sorry if this sounds so basic!

I just found out I've been watering the weeds..Yes, it's the dreaded Hedge Bindweed. I'm going to pull the leaves off and send them all to giggly4 (charly). Perhaps the bath needs re-wallpapering!...Yes, they are lovely to look at, but they are strangling my daylillies, my russian sage and working their way up my garden gate..I've also discovered that they release toxins in the soil to reduce productivity of it's competitors for sunlight...Thank you to all for the advice on how to prevent it spreading...I know what I'll be doing tommorrow...blah Take care! Roz

RE HARDINESS...

Searches on google implied zones 8-11 depending on species or author, maybe one reference to zone 7. Here in Montreal QC Canada (Z5) I see "perennial" morning glories. I cannot imagine that there is much microclimate effect based on where I saw them growing (on the edge of an open lot right next to the sidewalk).

(I do see Bindweed et al. too, but I think what I am talking about are what one usually calls morning glory... does anyone have pics?)

They come back with such vigour and regularity along certain fences that I would be hard-pressed to believe that they are just self-seeding. I have planted them in containers on my balcony, so no invasive worries... ditto for the datura...

So how hardy are they? Any thoughts about overwintering these indoors?

Hi:

I live in California.

The back of the seed packet, recommened that I sow sweet pea along with morning glory.

Does any one have any experience in this? I thought that sweet pea requires rich fertilized soil while morning glory needs poor soil conditions.

While the idea seems fasicnating, I was wondering whether indeed that was realistic. Also I have heard some horrow stories about morning glory taking over the garden.

If I plant them as annuals, do I still risk morning glory taking over my garden?

This most definately sounds like bindweed to me, not the morning glory flowering vine we love to plant by seed. Bindweed spreads by trailers under ground, not by seed, as far as I know. One little spore of the root touches the ground and it will become a whole new plant! The root goes very deep and can never be pulled out as it grows in a whole network, and truly one little piece of it remaining will begin more networks. I have spent the past ten years "moving" bindweed from my garden area (I never use poisons)- I hand dig deep into the soil, bring the shovel straight up and plop the pile aside. Then I hand pick through the soil to remove every bit of this white root I can see. It could be tedious to some, but to me it's refreshing, like putting new paint on a wall.By the way, it is much better to do this before tilling if possible, as the tiller will turn one of these big root systems into a million! My soil has almost been ridded of this bindweed, where as ten years ago it was a plush carpet of the stuff.
Charli, I think you are right on with the purpose of bindweed! This plant to me is beautiful as long as it allows me to share the space I have! I move all this root to the spot I designated for dumping weeds that I don't want in the compost. It has made a beautiful covering for this waste spot, and has been happy to stay there and do it's job. The goldfinches seem to love it!

Good luck,
Tanya

I read in a book about keeping grass and weeds out of the flower beds and heres a neat way to do it and it really works!!! Dig a trench about 2 feet deep where you want the weeds or morning glory from jumping over in your flowers and fill with pine needles..the pine needles wont let the weeds root and then you dont have to pull them weeds out or you could just use roundup along the perimeter once in a while to kill any that did make the trip over the trench by wind , etc..

Gosh... I wish that pine needles worked on chickweed. I have a thick mulch of pine needles on my blueberries, yet the lamb's quarters and chickweed laugh at it and grow right on top!

Wow!!! I need that kind of resilience in a plant. Could you possibly send me some? My home is on a giant gravel hill, which was put on all of the roads in my county at one time, but then someone had the stupid idea to put a house there by putting some dirt in! It's pretty much all stones and it's aweful trying to get something to grow! All I have are chives, lots and LOTS of chives, I can't stop those darn things. I need a plant that I can plant there. Oh and if anyone needs chives, and can tell me what part to send, I'd be more then happy to share. They are in the cracks of the stone side walk, covering 2 gardens, and they even got into the pot that was on the window sill! Also if anyone has any ideas on how to kill them, I'm open to options.

Well whatever you call it, its all over the yard we just bought and choking out everything else. Roundup here I come. According to our neighbors, the gal who had this house loved them and wild white daisies and they are everywhere. As far as I'm concerned, its a beautiful yard ruined by these "weeds".

Ditto
I planted a packet of morning glories last year to cover a fence for privacy. Well, that worked nicely, but this year I wanted to try a different vine.
However, the morning glories produced so many seeds that I am now pulling out/mowing/cutting down more seedlings than I normally get from my maple!!
I removed some sod for a new flower bed and it wasn't the odd grass-root that came back, but lots of morning glories that took advantage of the new conditions.
Some of the vines made now it up the fence and I'm once again tempted to leave it because of the pretty flowers but then of course I'll get another round of seeds next year!
C.

Heres some info on a Morning glory (Ipomoea Indica ) I grow in California it sounds like the one you have it grow every were and grows all year long and you can start new one's from cutting's the flower's stay open all day it looks just like the morning glories I start from seeds every year. I got this info off the Internet hope it helps Dennis

This is a beautiful blue, heavily and long blooming, truly perennial morning glory. The flowers are a deep blue as they open, and gradually fade to pink as the sun warms them, and finally curl up and disappear usually by afternoon, to be replaced the next morning. On cool, or foggy days, the blue will last a lot longer. But where we are, such days do not happen until late October.

Some caveats are required here. It is a big and strong growing vine. It will not please you if your intended spot is small. A shed, a back fence, a porch, these are in the proper scale for this vine. Another caveat regards frost. Frost is a very good thing for I. indica because it kills the tops back to the roots. Without the benefit of some frost, it will not stop, remains evergreen, and has taken over entire blocks of backyards in San Francisco. For us, the sharp frosts of winter knock it back to the main crown, and it is therefore an excellent deciduous vine. The crown is hardy as long as the soil itself does not freeze solid, and has survived 16F here.

A third caveat is that it makes, in addition to the twining, upward growth that produces the flowers, another kind of vine which grows exclusively horizontally, has slightly different leaves and makes no flowers. About mid summer, these horizontal shoots start out rapidly, and keep going. It is wise to trim them off around the crown each month or so. We have seen them grow 40 ft or more in a season in a straight line from the base of the plant.

Despite the cautions, it is one of our all-time favorite plants. It grows easily in any soil, with any exposure, and produces flowers of the most exquisite deep blue.

The first year we lived in our house I used the dormant MG vines to make Xmas wreats. The novelty wore off quickly although. I spend most weekends pulling up yards of this plant. If I don't keep up with is, I end up spending more time than I want to ripping it out. It's probably the closest thing that we in CA have to Kudzu. Good luck with your fight!

My advice is embrace the morning glories! I have wild morning glories growing in my flower bed and they are so pretty! The would look absolutly beautiful in a rock garden!

I jump for joy every morning as more of the chain link fence in the back of my yard gets filled up with morning glories and susequently I see less and less on my neighbor's barking dog who when I am working in the yard marks his territory not with #1 but a pungent #2. Soon I will only have to look at a beautiful wall of green and blue - and due to the dappled sunlight, my MG's bloom the whole day and only shrivel at night. I LOVE THEM!

Hi. I'm Diane. We live in Utah and our backyard is covered with morning glory or at least thats what we think it is.It also sounds like bindweed (which I have never heard of before)We have lived here for 12 years and this year is by far the worst ever. It's clear through our grass and flower beds. A friend of ours said to use deisel fuel on the leaves of the plant and it would kill it out. That seems like alot of work. Can some one help with an easier solution? Frustrated in Utah.

Hello! I'm in IL and I "purposly" planted the Heavenly Blue Burpee variety of Morning glory in my flower bed. I wanted to fill in and around my sparse 1st year flower garden at my new house of mostly perrienials that I've planted by seed and I did more than that--a couple of the mounds I ended up ripping out because it was devouring the plants that I didn't want over run with these. I've currenly one masking the gas meter which I wanted to hide --so that's good. The other is right in front of my porch and I'm attempting to run it up and down stakes but it's getting bigger and bigger. I am interrested to hear more of the belief that it runs rampid where there is need of healing. I like the symbolic mystical beliefs about some of our plants. I have have even followed the advice of planting a money plant near my frond door! :) Can't hurt, right? Charly, I for one would like to hear more :) But I'd also like to know any good way to stake, or trellis this better. This is only an annual in Illinois. I have had to replant with new seed each year. I adore the blue flowers.

Hi Pam, I personally suffer from a perennial morning glory problem. I have it growing in my front flower bed and it comes back from the root every year. This particular kind searches for anything that will carry it upward. It actually goes aerial until it finds something to latch onto. Once it latches on the vine wraps around the stem of whatever it has grabbed and continues to wrap until it has strangled it completely. I have pulled the roots out in the spring and have encountered well rooted plants, not seedlings.

With your morning glories I would suggest picking up a piece of Lattice from the store and attaching a couple of posts to it so you can stake it in the ground. You can weave a few of the vines inbetween the lattice to give it a start upward and perhaps train it to find it's own way skyward and away from your other plants.

My morning glories have successfully killed 1 arbor vitae and are working on my rhododendrons. It is in partial shade and extremely hot late afternoon sun. I used to like them when I saw them gracing a fence, now I want to start a fire whenever I see them.

I will be heading out with a paint brush and some round-up very soon!

Cheers!
Tracy

Yes Morning glories are pretty but not so much when they are choking out expensive perennials.
We have that binding weed here too and it chokes everything. It grows over the top if you dont control it and everything under it dies.

has anyone tried killing bindweed with sugar? I've heard that dry molasses or sugar will work, but I don't know how much or how often to use it. Any suggestions? Help! It's taking over my grass!

Oh Boy! It is definitely the Morning Glory vine and I could use some healing! I saw a time lapse video of it while researching ways to identify and control it. I will try pulling the leaves because I'm pulling up from the root a new plant most everyday and I believe it's getting worse. They are pretty though. Hmm...

I think there is a big difference between the weed morning glory (bind weed) and the pretty blue flowered morning glory. I honestly can't imagine anyone wanting to purposely start the bind weed. The bind weed vine is ugly and the flowers are ugly. They are a nightmare to try and control. It is good that morning glory gives healing because it makes me pretty ill at trying to control it...LOL

I do remember the beautiful blue flowered morning glory as a child and it is nothing like the bind weed.

Good luck getting rid of those weeds! I planted some on a trellis 4 years ago, this evening I pulled those nasty little seedlings for half an hour, and there are still more! Spray isn't an option where they are comming up, just have to keep pulling.

Brush killer works better than Roundup on Bindweed. Waay better! Works better on Clover, Blackberries, and Horsetail too.

Hi there.
I have found a non chemical weed killer...actually an ANYTHING killer! ( watch what you don't want killed!!!) In our area we can't buy any chemicals so this has worked wonderful and actually it has been better and way faster!!!
2.5L bottle of vinegar on the stove to warm it up only. Add 1/2 cup of salt to totally dissolve it. Then add 1 teaspoon of dishsoap(not dishwasher soap) and let it cool. I put it in squirt bottles and goodbye to the weeds between my patio stones. All is brown and crispy and I just sweep away the crispies. It works best in drier weather as it must dilute rather fast in damp soil. Good luck. Love to know how it works for anyone!

Hi~ I live in So Calif and six years ago I planted Morning Glory in two extremely large pots to grow over a tall iron garden gate arch. I was thrilled to watch the growth progress and see the heart-shaped leaves entwine the arch and deep violet flowers unfurl each morning. It was beautiful.......until the runners found their way to the nearby ground soil and took root. I've been battling them ever since. For 4-5 years I've had to rip vines out of 3 lovely Birch trees, my neighbor's Ficus trees and a Fig tree. I finally surrendered a few weeks ago and had my lovely Birches cut down. The MG was just too strong for them. The iron arch bent under the weight of the MG while being dismantled... I loved the arch and wanted to replant with Ivy but now the arch is gone too. Alas.... the Morning Glory is already coming back all along the fence. I will definitely try your non-chemical solution today, Lynn. I have everything needed right in the house~ no need for even a trip to the store! I'll let you know how this works for me. My hope is that the solution will not reside in the soil for long and kill whatever flowers/plants I decide to use. Thanks for offering a great solution!

i'm in nw indiana and have the big deep blue/purple ones that i train to climb one side of my deck stairs. i collect many of the seeds in the fall and plant some each spring to make sure they come back. i have had no problem...just wish the would bloom longer into the day. a friend send me some seeds of an ivy leaf mg with smaller medium blue flowers and seeds of one she said flower in the evening with white flowers and the usual heart shape leaf. it will be interesting to see what happens. hope i don't have problems some of you have. it is funny how people have such different experiences with the same plant. one person hates the evil plant and can't get rid of it and another is trying just as desperately to get it grow without success!

I have been fighting this purple morning glory for years, pretty sure it is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipomoea_indica. I thought it was beautiful when I first saw it too.

It has choked out all my other climbing vines, passiflora, jasmine, honeysuckle, strangled fruit trees, completely obscured climbing roses, etc, etc. I spend at least half my time in the garden pulling it, it comes up in long ropes.

It has taken over much of our block in, yes, San Francisco. It climbed in the space between my house and my neighbor's, and actually made it's way through the walls and started growing in the basement!

My neighbor recently had her roof fixed, and the roofer said it was covering both roofs, he was kind enough to pull them off of her roof and our roof, where it was growing on top of the solar panels.

This stuff is serious, and much more pernicious than the delicate blue morning glory. I have not used pesticides in my yard, so maybe I'll try the pulling the leaves technique, although there are a TON of leaves. Has this method worked for anyone else? I was thinking of trying to make a biodynamic solution out of the rotted plant, so I may try that in conjunction with something else. I think my neighbor is ready for the pesticides...

This is a different plant than the much milder bindweed. If you are in a place without frost, be very careful about growing this weed. I will try to post some pictures soon, was going to do a whole blog post about it because this is one weed I don't want anywhere near my compost. OK, I'm calming down... now...

Here is a link that might be useful: The Lazy Composter

Zignorp,
why can you not find the main stem(s) as they leave the soil, cut them off right there with a saw or an electric chain saw, pull them all down and put them into yardwaste paper bags for recycling? Then when the new shoots come out, pull those leaves or use an herbicide.

That sounds so easy. I am constantly pulling 20 foot roots and filling up the green bin often, but I don't want to use herbicides. There is no main stem, there are many, many 40+ foot stems crisscrossing the yard, under sheet mulching, and what makes it bad is that I have adjoining yards and can't control what happens there... They are better this year, but it's a lot of labor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wendy Bardsley

Hi! I live in Orlando fl, I have a beautiful morning glory which I love but it's only two seeds that grew largely in my fence area I'd like to pull it from the ground and place it in a pot, would this kill it??

Morning Glory is such a pest! It has also been taking over our garden and as its coming from our neighbours yard it is very hard to eliminate, what was apparently a pretty plant overseas (i simply cant see it as anything other than a horrific weed) is very much a problem in Australia. The key things are not to pull it our by the roots as that promotes its growth, to trim your grass every week and spot weed, also to carefully use a dropper of non-diluted RoundUp on its leaves. Plucking every leaf off only works if you can get every leaf off the vine in your neighbours yard as well. Another solution, one which my friend has done after years of Morning Glory infestation, was to poison her neighbours yard during the night. Im not saying its a good thing to do, however, she had effectively erradicated it while we are still spot weeding in our garden.

I am also in Utah. I moved into a new home last July. The previous owners never trimmed or pulled anything, and the Morning Glory is rampant. Everyone I have talked to says to use Round up. If that doesn't work I'm going to try diesel fuel.

I'm also in Utah and my neighbor, who has not done anything with his yard, has bindweed or morning glory that is invading my yard. I was told by a local nursery to find the main root and put stump killer on it. Finding the main root is the problem. I'm going to try painting leaves with roundup. It's worth it if it works. I'm tired of fighting it.

I know that a lot of the comment are old but NEVER PUT MORNING GLORY OR BINDWEED IN YARD WASTE BIN! It needs to go into the garbage. I also have it & it's coming from neighbors sport court. I plan to start going over there & start pulling off leaves. I really don't want to use chemicals. It hasn't taken over my yard yet but I'm constantly pulling it and the roots up.

You have to pull out the big guns on this one. Morning glory can grow in hell. Impossible to get rid of. Those long strings are tough to pull. Stretchy tug of war. No poison that i have tried will kill it. I am just trying to keep ahead of new growth.

I have read that Glyphosate may have some effect but you would have to spray it early when the plants are young.Controlling them can be a time consuming process.I have not found any clear method of preventing them yet.