Morning glory and broken trellis

6 years ago

Our morning glory got so heavy that a part of the trellis it sits on (on top of a block wall) broke and fell on the ground. We do like it as it brings privacy (neighbor behind) while being beautiful to the eyes.

We are thinking of putting the morning glory back up there, either by replacing the trellis or just leave the empty space and run wires between two posts that use to support the broken trellis and train the morning glory to expand there and hopefully fill that empty space relatively quick. But being novice to morning glory, we're not sure which way is the most convenient, time and money wise. What do you think?
Also, our morning glory being quite thick and heavy, our gardener also suggested to trim it much further back (using hedge trimmer) to remove the weight and start fresh. Doing so would reveal even more the roots and the dead flowers all along the wall though, before it blooms again. Not knowing much about morning glory, we would appreciate a second opinion on how to trim our morning glory if anyone has ideas!

Below are a couple of pics to give you a better idea.

a. The broken trellis and the two metal posts to the right where the trellis used to be attached. The block wall is a bit slanted in that corner so I suppose the previous owners just attached the trellis to the posts.

b. Overview of our morning glory along the wall. Our gardener said the roots are on our sides with these 4 "legs".

Featured Answer

callirhoe123

6 years ago

Now THAT'S a problem. Not what you want to hear, I'm sure, but if this were my place, I'd take the whole business down, research and install a trellising system that can support more weight, and then choose a vining plant that will keep its leaves in the shade so you are not looking at all that dead foliage all year.

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Comments (6)

Jacqui Naud
6 years ago
Morning Glory is the cockroach of plants; almost impossible to kill. Take your gardeners advice. Cut it way back and rebuild a sturdier trellis. Also, instead of letting it go wild in the future, keep it maintained.
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User
6 years ago
I'm going to be the plant-positive person here. You like morning glory. I like morning glory. Morning glory is a delightful plant. It's just...well...it does that. It has other problems, including seeding out everywhere in some climates (not mine, where I have to reseed my Heavenly Blue every year). Mine doesn't do...that...because it starts in May and dies in October, though.

Cut it down, repair the trellis, and let it go back to town on the new trellis, preferably made of airplane titanium for strength. (Kidding, but not by much).

Your other alternates are certainly to choose a new plant--assuming you can get rid of the MG. It's exposing a lot of dead plant material that's less than attractive and that can certainly be improved. Or you can certainly simply clean things out for attractiveness and let it regrow. Morning Glory is not known to grow slowly, and even that can be accelerated by feeding it. I can easily get twenty feet in a few months (on a Heavenly Blue which is naturally very large).

Keep after it and it'll be a much neater plant. Even my clematis can get a bit messy year in, year out, and need the occasional cleaning.
Linda Dornan
6 years ago
I would also aggressively cut it back and install a proper system to hold its weight. I would also expand the bed in front of the vine and plant taller perennials to hide the base of the vines, maybe hydrangeas.
functionthenlook
6 years ago
I don't have any help on the trellis, but I am envious. I can only grow them in the summer and they don'tdon'tet that big. I love morning glories. I just bought a new pkg today to plant. Our cat died this spring, now the bunnies have invaded my yard and ate the ones I planted a couple weeks ago. . Now I have to put mesh at the base to keep them from eating them. Ugh!
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Yardvaark
6 years ago
Since it's relatively early in the season, here's one more vote for cutting down and starting over on a new, strong trellis system,

I loathe the endlessly reseeding, small flowered, weedy morning glories, but love the 'Heavenly Blue' that has never behaved that way for me.

Try also moonflower vine for something fun to grow.