Controlling Morning Glory: How to Get Rid of Morning Glory Weeds

Have you heard the phrase, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure?” When it comes to morning glory, we’d like to update that sentiment to “One person’s beloved ornamental garden plant is another person’s frustrating and stubborn weed.” Morning glory is a beautiful plant, but it can also take over gardens, stealing nutrients from its neighbours. That’s why many gardeners and homeowners are more interested in learning how to get rid of morning glory than how to cultivate it.

What Are Morning Glory Weeds?

Morning Glory (ipomoea) is a fast-growing, quickly spreading annual vine. Fans of the plant love its pretty, trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom in various colours, including purple, blue, pink, and white. Its vines can wrap around trellises or crawl along garden walls, adding a lovely and colourful touch to a garden. In fact, you can likely find seed packets of morning glory at your local gardening or home improvement store.

There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to morning glory, however. Yes, its flowers and vines can certainly look attractive in a garden, but this plant grows quickly, and its vines can twine around and smother other plants. It can also compete with your plants for water, nutrients, and sunlight

Morning Glory is very similar to but not the same as bindweed plants. Although they look virtually identical on the outside, bindweed (convolvulus) is a perennial plant with an extremely deep and tenacious root system.

How to Get Rid of Morning Glory Weeds

Morning Glory weed removal is often more difficult than it may initially seem. The vines can spring back to life after you think you’ve gotten rid of them. Morning glory reseeds itself every year when seed pods split open after falling to the ground. Part of controlling morning glory also includes getting rid of seed pods.

Discover some of our best, tried-and-true methods on how to get rid of morning glory:

Hand-Pull Them

Though decidedly old-school, one of the best methods of morning glory weed removal is to simply pull them out of the ground using your hands, a spade, or a weed puller tool. Do your best to dig out the entire root system, and make sure you pick up and dispose of any seed pods you find.

Smother Them

One way to kill morning glory is to smother it by laying cardboard, newspaper, or landscape fabric over the offending weeds and topping it off with mulch. The coverings will block the sunlight and prevent the weeds from growing.

Use Herbicides

If morning glory grows out of control on your land, it’s time to bring out the big guns. Head to your nearest gardening center or home improvement store and pick up some herbicide. Check the label and try to find an herbicide designed to kill morning glory. Read the instructions carefully before applying.

Fry Them

Looking for non-toxic weed killers? A unique way of tackling morning glory is through soil solarization. This method involves covering the affected area with clear plastic sheeting during the hot summer months to heat the soil and kill the weeds. Just keep in mind that soil solarization can harm beneficial soil organisms.

All of the Above

Morning Glory can be maddeningly persistent, so you might want to try all of the above methods in tandem. Pull what you can, pick up all the seed pods you find, apply herbicides, and then smother the rest or use soil solarization. Don’t be surprised if the morning glory comes back next year. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You may have to perform these removal methods for a few seasons before you completely vanquish this stubborn plant.

How to Get Rid of Morning Glory Weeds Without Killing Other Plants

When you begin researching how to kill morning glory, keep in mind that some methods can also harm the surrounding plants. For example, if you choose a non-selective herbicide, it will kill most plants it comes into contact with. Even if you are careful when spraying your herbicide, it can drift on the wind and accidentally harm nearby plants.

Likewise, other methods, such as aggressive tilling or soil solarization, can also harm surrounding plants. We don’t recommend tilling morning glory to get rid of it, as this can simply mix more seeds into the soil and continue the cycle.

Fortunately, there are ways to fight morning glory while minimizing the risk to your other plants.

• Apply herbicides directly to your morning glory leaves. Don’t use herbicides on a windy day or if the forecast calls for rain.
• When using soil solarization, monitor nearby plants for signs of stress and remove the plastic if necessary.
• Always start with hand-pulling and only move on to other methods if the weeds grow out of control.

How to Prevent Morning Glory from Returning

Part of learning how to get rid of morning glory in your grass and garden is keeping it out after a successful eradication campaign. Morning glory has a habit of rising from the dead, so keep your eye out and don’t rest on your laurels.

Proper Lawn Care

The best way of controlling morning glory is to take good care of your lawn. A dense and thick lawn can suppress weed growth. It’s difficult for morning glory seedlings to fight for resources against a strong and healthy lawn.

Mulching

A good way to kill weeds in flower beds is to add a thick layer of organic mulch around your desired plants. This will suppress weed growth by preventing morning glory seeds from germinating. Wood chips and bark both make good mulch options.

Plant Ground Cover

Morning glory can take over unattended acreage at lightning-fast speeds (at least, it seems so). If you don’t want a field full of morning glory, plant ground cover. Opt for a dense ground cover that can outcompete the weed, like bugleweed, periwinkle, or creeping thyme.

Monitor and Act

It can be nearly impossible to completely rid yourself of morning glory. In some cases, the best way to perform weed control on your property is to monitor your property and immediately remove any weeds as soon as you notice them. The earlier you kill the weed, the less likely it’ll have a chance to flower and release more seeds.

Need Help Eliminating Morning Glory and Other Weeds?

Friend to some, foe to others, morning glory is a tenacious adversary, as are many other invasive weeds. Controlling morning glory and other weeds that ruin your lawn and garden requires patience, consistent action, and ongoing monitoring and maintenance. If that seems like a lot of work, consider calling the professionals at The Grounds Guys®.

Our local teams provide professional lawn care and landscape services that will keep your property looking its best throughout the year. We also provide commercial weed control and lawn care services to keep your business looking great too! Our experienced teams know the best ways to eliminate morning glory and other problem weeds from your property and provide ongoing maintenance to ensure your lawn and garden continue to grow healthy and strong.

Ready to say goodnight to morning glory? Request a free quote today.