Vinca minor. The bane of my gardens! It is aggressive and once it gets a foothold, it is a pain to remove. Pops up everywhere and crowds out most everything else.
Ok_Put2792
Looks like lesser periwinkle. It’s considered an invasive here. That being said, grass isn’t much better to be honest.
Minnerrva
I truly like periwinkle and have not had a problem with it at all. In fact, I’ve had trouble encouraging it in part sun/shade beds. It’s meek compared to Wintercreeper (eunoymus), which is invasive here and will cover trees. Periwinkle/vinca doesn’t climb, grows moderately (not aggressively here), and has lovely tiny blue flowers in spring. For me, it’s a friend.
Chardonne
I love periwinkle. Just love it. Beautiful dark green leaves, lovely flowers, evergreen, grows anywhere, deer won’t eat it, ridiculously hardy… It’s like nature’s astroturf.
But it’s REALLY like nature’s astroturf. Nothing else grows there. Supports no insect life. It just takes up space where native plants could be positively contributing, and it spreads vigorously. Everywhere. I’ve spend the last few weeks ripping it up (even the white variety I confess I actually planted myself). It’s being replaced by native groundcovers (I’m in the PNW): oxalis, wild ginger, bunchberry dogwood, ferns. It took a mind shift, but I have no regrets.
I wouldn’t say it’s as bad as English ivy or bindweed, but it’s hard to get rid of! I pull and pull and pull, and still little tendrils survive and pop back up. But I’m getting them. My husband has accused me of DOGE-ing the yard, but I explained it to him, and he gets it, and he wishes me the best with it.
Semtexual
Evil evil evil evil this is my #1 enemy in my yard 👎
You want native stuff like Fragaria virginiana, Viola sororia, some Carex species. Not this
cascadefiberworks
It can be either depending on what you want to do with the space. It’s a pretty groundcover.
astro_nerd75
Vinca. Do NOT replace your lawn with it. It’s evil and nasty and invasive. I am fighting the vinca that the previous owners planted.
If you like the look and shade tolerance, maybe try some Phlox divaricata?
ExpensiveAd4496
Looks pretty now but gets taller and denser and hides vermit. Everyone gets rid of it eventually.
Wild_Ear_1419
Vinca‘s a friend to me. The ones I have don’t spread as fast in comparison with my creeping Jennies. I also like to use Vinca in my containers. The purple flowers are pretty when it blooms. 🤩
biasedsoymotel
I just found a few clumps of this in my yard and was thinking I’d leave it… GLAD I READ THIS! Out it goes before it gets crazy
splurtgorgle
When I die and go to hell I will seek out whoever decided selling this shit was a good idea.
Foe. Eternal foe.
angrycrank
Foe. I used to live near a ravine that was full of trilliums and trout lilies in the spring. Now it’s full of the periwinkle and lily of the valley that crept out from people’s lawns, with only a few beleaguered natives left.
trapercreek
Invasive
alrashid2
Everyone hates this stuff but I adore it. I tried for years and spent literally thousands of dollars on trying to establish native groundcover, just for it to die over and over and over again and poison ivy to grow in its place.
Ajuga and Vinca are the only things I ever got to establish. They’re beautiful and in 6 years have never grown at a rate to be invasive. Once a year I trim it back and it stays where I want it.
Friend.
steve2sloth
I went hiking in the woods a month ago, in coastal ca, and I came across the site of a cabin that was there 100+ years ago. Nothing remained except a field of periwinkle. The forest could overtake it
16 Comments
Periwinkle. It’s invasive.
Vinca minor. The bane of my gardens! It is aggressive and once it gets a foothold, it is a pain to remove. Pops up everywhere and crowds out most everything else.
Looks like lesser periwinkle. It’s considered an invasive here. That being said, grass isn’t much better to be honest.
I truly like periwinkle and have not had a problem with it at all. In fact, I’ve had trouble encouraging it in part sun/shade beds. It’s meek compared to Wintercreeper (eunoymus), which is invasive here and will cover trees. Periwinkle/vinca doesn’t climb, grows moderately (not aggressively here), and has lovely tiny blue flowers in spring. For me, it’s a friend.
I love periwinkle. Just love it. Beautiful dark green leaves, lovely flowers, evergreen, grows anywhere, deer won’t eat it, ridiculously hardy… It’s like nature’s astroturf.
But it’s REALLY like nature’s astroturf. Nothing else grows there. Supports no insect life. It just takes up space where native plants could be positively contributing, and it spreads vigorously. Everywhere. I’ve spend the last few weeks ripping it up (even the white variety I confess I actually planted myself). It’s being replaced by native groundcovers (I’m in the PNW): oxalis, wild ginger, bunchberry dogwood, ferns. It took a mind shift, but I have no regrets.
I wouldn’t say it’s as bad as English ivy or bindweed, but it’s hard to get rid of! I pull and pull and pull, and still little tendrils survive and pop back up. But I’m getting them. My husband has accused me of DOGE-ing the yard, but I explained it to him, and he gets it, and he wishes me the best with it.
Evil evil evil evil this is my #1 enemy in my yard 👎
You want native stuff like Fragaria virginiana, Viola sororia, some Carex species. Not this
It can be either depending on what you want to do with the space. It’s a pretty groundcover.
Vinca. Do NOT replace your lawn with it. It’s evil and nasty and invasive. I am fighting the vinca that the previous owners planted.
If you like the look and shade tolerance, maybe try some Phlox divaricata?
Looks pretty now but gets taller and denser and hides vermit. Everyone gets rid of it eventually.
Vinca‘s a friend to me. The ones I have don’t spread as fast in comparison with my creeping Jennies. I also like to use Vinca in my containers. The purple flowers are pretty when it blooms. 🤩
I just found a few clumps of this in my yard and was thinking I’d leave it… GLAD I READ THIS! Out it goes before it gets crazy
When I die and go to hell I will seek out whoever decided selling this shit was a good idea.
Foe. Eternal foe.
Foe. I used to live near a ravine that was full of trilliums and trout lilies in the spring. Now it’s full of the periwinkle and lily of the valley that crept out from people’s lawns, with only a few beleaguered natives left.
Invasive
Everyone hates this stuff but I adore it. I tried for years and spent literally thousands of dollars on trying to establish native groundcover, just for it to die over and over and over again and poison ivy to grow in its place.
Ajuga and Vinca are the only things I ever got to establish. They’re beautiful and in 6 years have never grown at a rate to be invasive. Once a year I trim it back and it stays where I want it.
Friend.
I went hiking in the woods a month ago, in coastal ca, and I came across the site of a cabin that was there 100+ years ago. Nothing remained except a field of periwinkle. The forest could overtake it