We had it growing at this house when we first moved here 8 1/2 yrs ago. We immediately cut it down because it was smothering a jacaranda. We spent the next 2 or 3 years pulling every piece that popped up. Eventually it stopped trying to come up in my yard, even though the next-door neighbor still allows it to grow on his side of the fence. John

Last May my wife said, "Do you think you could weed out the vinca in the rock garden?" "What's vinca?" I asked her. She showed me. The innocuous looking shiny green plant had invaded almost every inch of a 50-foot by 50-foot rock garden she had neglected over the years. "Sure," I said. I tried pulling it up by hand and realized I was in trouble. I went to the Internet and asked how to go about it. Move, hire much help, or spray with RoundUp, I was told. None of these was an option. So I have experimented with a number of techniques. Fourteen months later, here are the results. 1. Where the vinca is growing on rock with very little sod - Take a long crowbar, stick it under the vinca, pry it up and roll it like sod. Then leave the roots to bake in the sun. Rating: 100% success but takes brawn. 2. Where there is a flat spot with no trees or other obstacles - Lay down 6-mil black plastic to cut off light and water, leave it for three months, then remove. In the fall, use a pronged hoe to remove the dry roots. Then leave the roots to bake in the sun. Rating: 100% success almost one year later, but the plastic was not very attractive. 3. Where there are trees, bushes and other obstacles - Lay down cardboard and cover with 4 inches of wood chips or 8 inches of leaves. Rating: 99.9% after 14 months, but takes considerable organic matter. This technique has the advantage of enriching the soil. The vinca tries to grow through holes in the cardboard and around tree trunks and has to be ripped out by hand. When I lift up the plastic, and dig around, the vinca roots are still alive. Who knows what will happen when the cardboard decomposes, but I am hopeful. 4. Everywhere, every week - I do regular scouting expeditions to spot stubborn plants popping up here and there. Try to pull up the roots, not just the shoot. I don't think we'll have to move.

My mother had this plant at her home and the suckers popped up everywhere and even came up through a freshly paved driveway. A few neighbors had them popping up in the lawns all over the place. The only way we got rid of the largest plant that had become a 6 foot high tree was to cut it down and drill holes through the trunk to create a bowl and we poured the salt that is used for snow and ice and let it soak in the truck and it slowly killed it. It's a horrible invasive plant that she not be sold at garden centres.

Thank you fruitnut 27. I took an ax today and chopped some of the trunks that were too large to cut with pruners. Don't know if I will be able to dig them out completely, but maybe if I mangle them it will help. Thanks again!!