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Gardening in New Zealand

Will it take over my garden?

22 years ago

Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with ipomoea cairica, (Messina Creeper, Mile a Minute)This is in the same family as Morning Glory, (and kumara!) but has an attractive 5-7 lobed leaf. I've seen some info from o/seas (southern part of USA, I think) that suggests it is pretty rampant, as the name would suggest, but am wondering how it performs in New Zealand, especially in the Wellington area.

Mutzi.

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Comments (3)

Michele_6169
22 years ago
It grows really well here in perth, the wind doesn;t bother it, haven;t noticed it taking over garden but it covers fences etc quite nicely.PS my dog seems to like it as she ate it but we moved it to a pot and it doubled in size in 2 weeks. Hope this helps
Michele
jancol04
18 years ago
Hi
If it has quite a pretty leaf and a mauve flower, it will take forever to get rid of it, It runs along the grass and despite round up, the only way is to grab the vine and untangle it. The trouble is it is really pretty just very troublesome.

Jan
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How big of a garden spot is this? It looks like it would be easier and much quicker to pull up the "good plants" and smother the whole spot for a year. Then uncover a small test spot & check to make sure it's well & truly dead before putting it back into use. Smothering won't work if not done thoroughly, heavy corrugated cardboard with seams overlapping at least 6", no holes in it, covered with at least 4" of heavy organic matter holding it down and completely blocking the light, and for sure covering all of the plant/roots. I think I would use 2 layers of it for this plant, one I couldn't kill when I tried getting rid of the top 6" of soil in a garden about 20 yrs ago. I've never had smothering not kill anything but this particular plant gives me the heebie jeebies. Good luck with whatever you attempt!
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vleachman
18 years ago
Mile a minute is a nationally banned plant. You should be doing everything you can to get ride of it even in a garden setting... check out http://www.protectnz.org.nz/ for more information on banned plants.

It is a very pretty plant but you would be better off growing sweet peas from seed. These have the added benefits of smelling great and adding nitrogen to your soil without the drawbacks of a violent spreading habit. I've had great success in growing sweet peas in Wellington. The key is to have a climbing frame and plant seeds rather than seedlings. The seedlings don't like their roots to be moved.

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