This perennial weed has a huge root system; the real trick is to get to it early or it can be very hard to control. I helped dig some at a house my sis bought near Port Angeles....the masses of root were as big around as my thigh and traveling the entire length of the homes cement foundation.

Dig what you can, treat any new growth sprouting immediately with Roundup. Be consistent, complete removal may take a year or two.

" Morning Glory. This weedy vine will twine all over the garden, covering your ornamental plants to the point of smothering them. It is usually introduced by seed or invasive roots from under the neighbor's fence. Its success as a weed lies in its thick fleshy roots which travel long distances just under the soil surface. Since morning glory is a perennial weed, control lies in removing the root system. Hand weeding can remove large quantities of roots, but any broken pieces are capable of sprouting new growth. Repeated, persistent digging as the new growth sprouts can deplete the food reserves. If chemical control is required, cut back the growth and apply the material to leaves or stems in as localized a fashion as possible."

Fill a small container with roundup. Cut a small hole or slit in the top and stick one of the vines in the container (through the hole in the top). Place the container in an area where it won't get knocked over or disturbed. Watch and wait for the plant to die. You may need to do this several times to kill it all. The idea is to let the plant soak up lots and lots of roundup (far more than what it would soak up from the leaves.) It is VERY important that the container of RU be in a safe spot where kids and animals won't get into it or knock it over.

Also another method is to hand pull all old growth you can find, then apply roundup to any new growth. (Just by spraying or painting this time) Newer growth is far more susceptable to herbicides.

I just spent several hours reading the web about how to kill this vine as well as berry bushes and poplar suckers. Discouraging to say the least.

I decided the safest way to try and kill or keep under control the morning glory coming up from my neighbor is to use Round Up. Recommended to use it during full bloom but I'm going to try it now as well.

Cutting it only only makes it multiply. Of course remove small plants as you see them. This is one of those terribly invasive, why did anyone plant them, plants!!

Ginny

Thanks for the idea of putting Roundup in a container with a slit. I tried this on this ivy growing up through an old boxwood hedge. The first section I did killed quite a large section. I only used one container. I found another pint container and started it on two other sections. I've spent hours on this weed before, trying to dig out the roots to no avail as here they are two years later bigger and better than ever. Next, I'm going to attack the bermuda grass still remaining after using that Grass Begone. Works great except still some bermuda has come up since then. That's another with real deep roots.

Another name for it is bindweed. I have been working on getting rid of mine all year. Using the roundup in containers.

Good Luck
Lee

Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.
Three years ago I planted it in the front yard and let it grow over a trellis at the entrance to my yard. Since then I have removed the vines before they flower and don't put them in my compost pile. What I do is let them grow where I want them to. Right now they have a fence along my walkway and two shepherd hooks that have flower baskets. They completely cover the hooks but I trim them back from the baskets. Along the inside of the fence are 4 tomato and 4 pepper plants. I let the MG's grow along with the tomato vines and am testing to see if they protect the plants from the direct sun and wind. So far they seem to get along.

Come early september, I will cut the stems of the MG's at about ground level and let the vines die for a few days then remove and discard them. BTW, the bumble bees are constantly at the MG flowers and then get to the tomato flowers so maybe they work together. Any stray MG plants I find get pulled just like other weeds.

Rule of my front yard garden: "If you ain't obnoxious and get along with the others in there, you can stay."

It sounds like everyone is going with the assumption that this is "bind weed", Convolvulus... How large are the flowers? I've seen three species of bind weed and all of them have had quite small flowers; much smaller than white flowered MG's such as Pearly Gates. They also do not vine upward nearly as much as MG's, having more of a twining or prostrate habit, (although they can climb into desirable plants a bit).

I know that Portland OR is much further south than you, but my friend who lives there has a large field across the street from his house that is literally covered in Pearly Whites, (not bind weed). This is an annual plant, (at least that far north), but it reseeds itself easily. Using Round-Up will kill this years growth, but the seeds may have this plant coming back for years to come.

It could also be a species of Calystegia, (sometimes called False Bind Weed), native members of the MG family that often have large white or cream-colored flowers and is common in Western North America...

It is horrible stuff that almost made me give up gardening. I injured my knee last year at the beginning of the gardening season and could not do more than mow the lawn the rest of the year. It covered everything in one bed and is now working towards my other beds.

This year I almost dug everything up and put the plants in another bed -- but more shady unfortunately. That is until my neighbor admitted it was a problem for her as well and she will try to keep up with pulling it up on her side. It gives me hope. I pulled up all that I could find; I patrol the flower beds daily for new shoots; and have heavily mulched the beds. I'll give it one more year to see if there is any visible progress on eradicating this weed with my neighbor's help.

My neighbors are wonderful and, like me, organic gardeners. I don't want to use Roundup because their vegetable garden is across the fence from my invaded flower bed. Any suggestions for an organic control? Vinegar doesn't seem to do anything -- although I don't believe I have used it full strength. I haven't tried boiling water yet on them but in general haven't been impressed with this method of weed control. I'll also look in the organic gardening forum to see if something is there.

Thanks for letting me vent -- it helped a lot.

I've been trying to post this follow up and I hope this helps someone with a Morning Glory problem.
There are two Coleopterans that feed on Morning Glory. This beetle's common name is the golden tortoise beetle and is about the size of a lady beetle. It has wings that appear to be golden. Metriona bicolor is the one that resides in western Washington and the Charidotella species live in the eastern U.S. Both of these beetles feed on the family of plants Convolvulaceae. If you have a chance to purchase these beetles, like you would lady beetles, release them near your morning glory if there is a overgrowning problem and let the beetles do their work. Please don't use Roundup as it is acutely toxic to animials including humans.

omg mgs are so annoying .. i am going to try what i did 15 years ago with ivy.. corner property took over my lawn and all up side of house.. drove big nails into a large vine coming out of sidewal.. eventually rusted and killed the rts ivy free 15 years

Morning glory is one of the most difficult plants to control. I don't know of any effective organic methods other than smothering the ground with an impermeable barrier, like plastic or weed cloth, and leaving it on for at least a year, maybe more. Roundup does work and is not acutely toxic. The MSDS for the 41% concentrate of Roundup Original gives the acute oral and dermal LD50 as greater than 5000. If it was highly dangerous, it wouldn't be available for unlicensed applicators. I have had good success mixing the concentrate at the highest label rate and spraying it on new foliage during the summer. This will kill any other plant it contacts, so caution is advised.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roundup MSDS

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to also kill seeds from the morning glories? The seeds have matured (there are seeds in the 100's count range & getting more everyday)and now there are seeds everywhere. And the harder the wind blows the futher the seeds spread. We are talking about an area of about 45 feet X 70 feet, more or less?? If I don't find some way to prevent these seeds from sprouting I will have these covering my entire yard. I try to cut the blooms once they have died so that the seeds will not mature, but the key word is "TRY"....LOL. Will the Roundup work on the seeds as well??? I need serious HELP here & all suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help in this nightmare I seem to have stepped in.

Plain Roundup herbicide (glyphosate) will do nothing to affect subsequent seedling germination or growth. (There are some "Roundup" formulations that are sold currently that have a preemergent herbicide included in the mix). Preemergent herbicides can be used, but they will vary in effectiveness with this weed. Thick, coarse mulches will be the best long lasting approach, as will diligent weeding out of any seedlings that get through.

I planted a morning glory two years ago and they're still popping up EVERYWHERE.
we just keep plucking them out because we're too lazy (or too cautious) to do any other invasive weeding =)

Schmoopi, best pack up and head over to my side of the rockies, that particular wee beastie is not hardy here!

I like the idea of biological control using the beetles. Another organic Canadian method might be EcoClear. Apparently Scotts offer a consumer version of this product, but it doesn't appear on their website. I suggest you contact Ecoval and ask them where you can get it.

I suspect it won't be an easy task to get rid of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: EcoClear

Whoa, wow, calm down, man, that's not helpful at all. And that's not nice, insulting people. People have different taste, and there is no right or wrong about what somebody thinks is pretty or not pretty. Maybe some of these folks do think they are pretty but don't want them climbing all over their other plants. Please relax and enjoy yourself.

Garden Guru - there are many species of plants commonly referred to as Morning Glory that are all members of the bindweed family, many of which are problematic weeds that can overwhelm other more desirable and expensive plants. Not all of them are weeds though and you are correct in saying they are beautiful. It is important to make sure you are not planting one of the invasive overwhelming types that could cause problems down the road if not carefully controlled. The folks on this forum are seeking help in getting rid of the problematic weed types of Morning Glories. Please remember, a weed can be defined as any plant that is growing where it is not wanted so what may be a weed to you may not be to me. If you do not have anything nice or helpful to say, please do not post. For more information on the difference in the types of Morning Glories please see the following short article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Morning Glories: Beauty and the Beast

While I have had bindweed grow I have never had to use any of the glyphosate products, or any other "weed" poison, to control it. All I have needed to do is keep it cut so there are no leaves to photosynthesize nutrients to feed the roots and they die. Same thing with Nightshade, the Thistles, and many other "weeds" which are mostly wild flowers and are plants we do not want growing where we do not want them to grow.

I've been struggling with this monster for years. The notion that you can eradicate it by destroying visible growth is wishful thinking, pure and simple. If you believe in Better Living Through Chemistry, you might check my Grim Experiments post of this date on the Texas Gardening Forum.

Wow, where do you all live? I have been trying to grow morning glories and they fry in our sun and heat. I am in Rio Rancho, NM and heard morning glories where good in sand, which is what my yard is. I am desperate for vines for the lattice around my patio, but everything bakes out here.

I'm pretty sure the bindweed that infests my yard is probably got a root system that covers our entire city block. It's been a pest to us for years. I've been thinking about trying the round up in a coffee can idea this year. Normally we just rip it out where we see it, but miss one week and it's choking everything. It's the only thing I've seen that can strangle the ditch day lilies we have in our yard (which are pretty close to a weed themselves-- but we like them so we just dig them out and deal with the aggressiveness).

I also had problems with an annual morning glory vine in our back garden-- ivy-leafed I think? Persistence helped with that but it was also growing on my neighbors fence so I'm sure it's seeded all over the place again. Pretty blue flowers but was all over my vegetables.

"Roundup does work and is not acutely toxic." Erm, this didn't age well, botanybob.

Came to this old thread because I'm struggling right now to get good information on how much risk morning glories present to the tomato plants they're trying to climb all over. I see hysterics online over how they "strangle" other plants but I don't see evidence for it. They're beautiful and I have zero intention of killing them with roundup or anything else. Just looking for some official source to tell me live and let live is a bad idea in this case, but I can't find anything but shrieking homeowners who consider anything outside their obsessive controlling pernicious. Can someone link to something authoritative that spells things out?

Before anyone can make suggestions it’s important to identify the plant you have. There are many species which go by the common name ‘Morning Glory’. Most would swamp tomatoes. They don’t strangle. They just produce vast amounts of foliage which block the sun from whatever they’re rambling over. Can you post a picture of yours?

My understanding is the meaningful distinction is between morning glories and bindweed which some people mistake for morning glories. The flowers and leaf shape rule out bindweed. What you say about blocking the sun makes more sense than 'strangling.' I'll keep them pruned and try to train them away from my tomatoes. I love them. They're a wonderful sight during my morning coffee and they bring the pollinators, which are in alarmingly short supply in my neck of the woods this summer. I haven't seen a single bee.

No chance of a picture? What colour are the flowers? Where in the world are these growing? There’s no fixed meaning to these common names. There are multiple species of Convolvulaceae referred to as Bindweed, some of which some people call Morning Glories. This old thread seems to mix and confuse many species and it’s impossible to know which ones they are given there are no pictures and no botanical names.

It's been hard to get a photo because there aren't a lot of flowers yet and they've been closed by the time I get outside. The flowers are pink. This is in the northeast US in agricultural zone 7B. I realize that because the flowers are pink, there is a chance that this is bindweed. However, it's my understanding that the classic heart-shaped leaves on my plants rule that out. I'm content at this point to just manage them, pulling them out when they take root in my bed and unwrapping them from my tomato plants. In the unlikely event that this is bindweed, is this not a workable strategy?

Plenty of ‘bindweeds’ have heart shaped flowers. The one I have on my allotment is Calystegia sepium and there’s no way I’d let it run free. It’s perennial and relentless with yards and yards of white roots which are incredibly difficult to eradicate.

There are pink Calystega and Convolvulus species with heart shaped leaves.

That's good to know. A lot of sites, including university extension sites, suggest leaf shape is distinguishing. My intent was never to let them run wild. It's to keep them away from the tomato plants they try to climb and yank them out when they root. If that becomes unworkable -- which I doubt -- I'll be more aggressive though without chemicals. I think the risk in my case is somewhat limited. I have a concrete patio with garden beds. This is in the heart of the city. There isn't a large patch of actual ground anywhere nearby. This plant, whatever it is, hasn't got a lot of opportunities to make mischief. Last summer it only interfered with a single bed that's beside the fence it crawls on. I'm curious, since these plants look so much alike, what would you look for in a picture to make a determination. Can you not just describe that?

A picture is needed. There are multitudes of Convolvulaceae. Since I have no idea which one you have there’s no ‘it’ to describe. The differences can be quite small, as you say yourself. So it’s incredibly difficult to describe in words. If you really can’t get a picture try comparing your plants with on line images of the genera Ipomoea, Convolvulus and Calystegia.

Who knew this was so arcane? I truly can't comprehend how you can't describe possible markers on a bindweed with pink flowers and heart-shaped leaves. In any event, I'm not terribly alarmed at this point. If that changes in the ensuing weeks, I'll come back with a picture. Thanks for your help. It's made me more vigilant toward this mystery plant.