How to Plant & Transplant Vinca Minor, Periwinkle aka Creeping Myrtle Ground Cover
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Best Ground Cover Plant - If you are looking for a perennial ground cover, look no further than Vinca minor, commonly known as Myrtle. Vinca minor is a low maintenance, highly adaptable, evergreen plant (a great feature that keeps them green all year long) that grows quickly. It stays low to the ground, growing only 4-6” tall. It spreads by sending out trailing vines that root wherever the vines contact soil. For this reason, they grow and spread much quicker than other perennial groundcovers. Also, do not use mulch with vinca minor; it will prevent the runners from being able to root in the ground. Vinca minor will not climb like ivy, so it is a great alternative near structures you don’t want plants climbing. Vinca minor produces a ton a bright purple flower early in the Spring; its one of the first perennials to flower and thus provides bees with some early pollen. The flowers last about a month but will produce random flowers throughout the season.
Vinca minor is excellent for areas prone to erosion since it grows fast and has so many roots that help hold the soil in place. If planting on a slope, start by planting at the highest point, then space plants evenly down the slope in an alternating configuration
If any plants start to grow past where you want them to, you can cut the plant, dig up the rooted sections that have gone too far, and replant them in bare areas, other areas of your yard or give them away!
Thanks for tuning in to my home gardening channel, Farmer Brad the Gardener!
🌱 How to Plant & Transplant Vinca Minor, Periwinkle aka Creeping Myrtle Ground Cover
⏱ Timestamps:
Why Choose Vinca Minor for Ground Cover 00:28
Transplanting Vinca Minor 02:08
I love this stuff. I have a bunch at the end of my drive. I want it to go through my entire woods
It’s just the best!
Absolutely. I love the fact that it keeps all the weeds at bay. And in the spring has the little blue flowers.
Me too! Any advice on getting it to take over our woods?
@@JohnnyHadsjust take some out and plant it or get more seeds. But it should be easy to get it to take root in other places since this plant has a million roots.
Great video, lots of information, clear, basic, thanks.
Your welcome and thank you for the kind words 🙏
I had this in a hanging basket because it just looks so beautiful but I noticed that it starts to have these very delicate root systems and that it can be used as ground cover as well and wow it's just so beautiful it stays green all winter I mean it's so easy to take care of it doesn't mind shade I mean it's the best plant I've ever had and it's just very pretty even when you put it in a hanging basket it's beautiful. Just really easy to take care of even for somebody that doesn't understand plans or know plans yet
I couldn’t agree more! Never tried it in a hanging basket though due to winters up here…but I think I may try one this year, thanks 🙏
Very Grateful for this video Farmer Brad!! 'Can't tell you how long it took me to find the answer to my question--my vinca has been deterred from spreading by condo-neighbor's fall raking...most videos/articles only cover transplanting seedlings, etc. Good to know myrtle can help w/soil erosion, too. Your demo is wonderfully specific. Thanks very much.
Thank you for the kind words, hope you keep following and if there’s anything you want to learn, let me know!
Just bought some today! Will this apply to zone 8a as well? It says hardy to -30.
Was trying to figure out what zone you are in.
New sub!
Thank you for the sub! Yes it will apply to zone 8, I’m in Massachusetts which is zone 7 now. Good luck, let me know if you have any questions along the way!
Thank you. I just got some from a plant swap today. Hopefully they will grow under my spruce tree.
Good luck, very adaptable plants. Just water them every other day or so for a couple weeks until they get established.
I pulled out all my grass and put this myrtle in. It's great because I never have to mow anymore. Question: I have been putting compost down to enrich the soil. Do you recommend this? And how often? Spring and Fall or just one or the other? And is there any particular type of compost you would recommend? I believe the compost is better than any fertilizer, because compost enriches the soil. Thanks for your help
I haven’t found a need to use any amendments. It’s a hardy perennial that I’ve found grows anywhere, shade helps a lot. But I’ve never fertilized mine, and now with trees removed, it gets way too much sun but has adapted nicely. Whatever you do, don’t use mulch; It inhibits root growth. The compost is only short term anyway, because once these plants start to grow and root, you won’t be able to access the soil to keep adding compost. Good luck!
So should I loosen the dirt pretty well in the spot I’m moving it to. I planted some last year and so far it’s been loosing out to creeping Charlie.
I know they can be quite aggressive.. but can you underplant vincas under trees? Will they be root competition? Love how you used them on your property.
You definitely can plant under trees, they will do very well. You just need a few inches of loose topsoil for them to root. So either break it up with a rake or add a little. There won’t be any root competition because vinca minor has very shallow roots and trees have big, deep roots. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions 🙏
How to you keep it from continually spreading and taking over your yard?
For my situation the rock border keeps it mostly in check and then I’ll weed whack anything that goes pass it.
Weed wack it
So, I thought this vinca minor (aka Myrtle, aka Periwinkle) needed SHADE to thrive, yet most of your driveway was in full sun. Is it sunny all day there? And your myrtle stays thriving all year? This gives me hope, if so!
So you aren’t wrong. Naturally myrtle does prefer shade and requires little to no additional watering from you. However, myrtle is extremely adaptable and can be grown in areas with more sunlight. You may just have to water once a week as they require more water when growing in more sunlight.
Soooooo....I just brought a small one today thinking it was a cute house plant. Can it be grown indoors?
@@SmokingBuddha thank you for the reply
So very sorry very late late late response. I would not try growing this indoors, it is a perennial and I’ve found perennials do not do well indoors.
Thanks, this is really helpful!
Glad it was helpful! If you have any more questions please comment and I’ll help you along. Good luck!
I have a shady area in my garden will it grow well there?
Absolutely! It thrives in the shade, shade is its preferred environment.
I’m wanting to plant this ground cover in my front yard. I’m new to planting especially something for a large space. I have a huge oak tree that zero grass grows. I’ve been told vinca would work well here. My question to you is, the grower I plan to buy from states to plant in a pot. This confuses me. If I want ground cover why would I plant in a pot? I understand vinca is a very invasive plant. That’s what I want. I have dirt for a front yard. What do you suggest?
What zone are you in? My guess is they said to plant in a pot because it can be invasive in certain places; it is not invasive where I am in zone 6. If you still want to run with it, it’s best to cut up sections and lightly bury them all over so it fills in quicker. Smaller pieces is more plants but longer time to establish. Larger pieces is less plants but quicker growth. Don’t use mulch, it can inhibit root growth. Keep moist by misting until roots are established.
@@BuddhasBotanicals I’m in zone 8 NC. Do I need to add any fresh soil or fertilizer?
No need for fertilizer, especially right away. They don’t need to be bury deep so you want the top inch or two lose, can loosen with a rake. If it’s too difficult then yes you will want to add about 1-2” of topsoil. But don’t kill yourself, this plant does not need a lot of babying.
Are the rocks there to prevent the myrtle from taking over the lawn? Thanks
Hi, no the rocks were built as a retaining wall and I filled in the different levels with Myrtle. It’s been over 7 years and I really haven’t seen any try to creep into the grass yet. However, if it’s something you are worried about, bury the boulders or whatever you use at least 6”-8” in the ground.
Good video. 👍
Thanks for the visit
Is it possible to root trimmings from long vinca vine trailing from a pot, i.e. with no roots? There don't appear to be any nodes. Thanks!
Absolutely! Plant about 2” of the vine in potting mix and water when dry. Should root quickly. If it doesn’t let me know.
How deep do you have to plant it and how fast would it spread? Does it like sand?
Hi Randi, it doesn’t have to be very deep at all. I plant only a few inches below the surface: it will root shallow and then send deeper roots as it grows. You just need to cover the vine or any existing roots and you will be good to go. As for sand, it likes dirt/soil best but can handle some sand. TBH, I’ve never tried planting in complete sand. I’d try a few and check in a couple weeks to see if roots have formed.
Thoughts in using wood chips if i plant 8 ' - 12 ' apart ?
The Myrtle roots whenever the vines contact the soil, so sometimes mulch and wood chips can slow their growth. But I do understand the need to prevent weeds. I used natural
Mulch and watered often to keep it soft so the plants could root and it would break down quicker. Finer is better, big chunks are not recommended.
@@BuddhasBotanicals thank you 👍 I reckon I'll keep eye on it , once vine becomes long enough I will feed it under bark in hopes it roots
Can i put periwinkle around rose bushes?
Absolutely! It would do really well underneath in the shade of the bush. Shallow roots won’t compete with rose roots either.
@BuddhasBotanicals Thank you. Will it go out into the lawn?
@@prettylagoon it can grow into lawn. But usually slowly since grass has shallow thick roots and Myrtle’s shallow roots struggle to fight the grass. I’d suggest putting in a little plastic or metal landscape barrier you can pick up at most places.
Thank you
You're welcome
Don't they die out during winter. The ones in pots did ; came back but slow growing.
They are perennial so they shouldn’t die. Sometimes in containers even perennials die because they can freeze solid like an ice block and kill the roots. In the ground you should be good, in containers it’s 50/50 but much better success if you move the container next to your house for the winter if you can move it.
Is it deer resistant?
Yes it is!
How do you get their seeds?
I buy the plants. You can get bare root ones super cheap, less than $.50 each. Seeding would take a really really long time. Check out classygroundcovers.com. That’s where I got mine from.
Once you have some plants, you can just cut sections and replant.
Terribly invasive plant that’s difficult to control, spreads out into lawns and nearby wooded habitats crowding out native species. Go to your local nature centers/arboretums and speak to their naturalist before planting anything that spreads like this. Find out if it is helpful or harmful to your natural environment. It’s so easy to support the natural beauty in your area when you take the time to learn.
Agreed for southern climates that do not experience winter but where I am, it’s not invasive and does not spread quickly, into lawns (which would be fine because grass isn’t native either). Also, there’s absolutely no native species here that even comes close to providing as many flowers/food for bumblebees as Myrtle does for them.