i have just discovered that the "pretty" little morning glory (with the funnel-shaped whitish-pink flower) is a WEED (it is a "summer perennial member of the morning glory family")!!! it totally took over our garden and started to wrap itself around EVERYTHING. needless to say i just spent 3 hours attempting to get rid of it - now the garden looks quite bare. i also read that the bindweed can have quite an extensive root system meaning it'll just keep growing. has anyone dealt with this crazy weed before? this is our first home which (?un)luckily came with a "landscaped" garden. now i just feel like digging the entire thing up and starting from scratch.
any ideas as to what i can do now???? should i fill in the bare spots now and hope the bindweed won't return? what should i plant? the garden is north facing receiving full sun early in the am and again after 5pm. please...help. gardening is not as fun as i was hoping it would be :(
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I have the same problem with violets ..everywhere...They first appear in the spring and are beautiful but now are just ratty large leaves with babies...I have found that the sooner something else is planted in its usual location, invasive plants have more of a challenge and are easier to contol. You could try periwinkle (dark glossy leaf with blue flowers in the spring) as a ground cover...spreads easily and looks nice with shade annuals (impatients) and/or hosta which would grow well in the location you describe.
Here's a web site with a bit of info on how to control bindweed:
http://www.weedalert.com/weed_pages/wa_field_bindweed.htm
Funny -- I saw some pretty white & pink morning glories along the side of the road near the cottage last weekend, and wanted to dig up a few to put into my garden -- good thing they were too tangled up to dig out of the ground!!
Good luck getting rid of them.... they're pretty flowers, though....
I think all you can do is pull it up right away as it starts growing.
You could fill in with a part shade/part sun plant. Ask at your nursery. they will have suggestions. Don't give up on the garden we all have stuff that spreads and gets bothersome. I have mint and lily of valley, both very invasive. Have fun.