Marianne's Response

What is this?

Here are a couple of pictures of a weed that is taking over in my vinca. It is just starting to bloom little yellow flowers. I’m about at the point of just killing all of the weed and vinca just to get rid of the weed! Help, what can I do?

Posted by CynScotland on June 11, 2019

Marianne's Response

So sorry but I cannot tell for sure what type of weed that is. Is it sticky? It could be a type of hairy vetch. No matter, a weed is any plant you do not want and your vinca looks healthy so instead of starting over I suggest you try hand pulling the weed then not watering the vinca  all summer unless it wilts. This will make the weedy invader suffer and then in early spring apply a fertilizer on the vinca to encourage fast, thick growth. This technique may help the groundcover to smother the weed.  Sometimes weeds will sprout when weather conditions are perfect for them but with any luck next spring will be drier and this invader will not be able to get a toe hold in your vinca. I suspect it is spreading from seed not underground roots so a thick vinca will stop light from getting to the seeds and slow down their germination. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti