Ground cover plants offer a solution for landscaping, filling empty spaces, suppressing weeds, and reducing soil erosion. Morning glory, known for its trumpet-shaped flowers, is sometimes considered for this role due to its vigorous growth and attractive blooms. Understanding its characteristics is important before using it as ground cover.
What to Know About Morning Glory as Ground Cover
Morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea or Ipomoea tricolor varieties) is a fast-growing vine known for its twining habit. These plants can grow rapidly, often reaching lengths of 10 to 15 feet in a single growing season. While they can spread across the ground, their natural inclination is to climb.
If left unchecked, morning glory will readily ascend nearby structures or other plants. They use tendrils to cling to supports, including fences, trellises, or other vegetation. This climbing behavior is a key aspect gardeners must consider when using them as ground cover.
Advantages of Using Morning Glory as Ground Cover
Morning glory provides rapid coverage, quickly filling bare soil patches. Its fast growth rate allows it to establish a green carpet in a short period.
The plant offers aesthetic appeal with vibrant, abundant blooms. These trumpet-shaped flowers, which typically open in the morning, come in a range of colors including blue, purple, pink, and white. The dense foliage and continuous flowering from early summer until the first frost contribute to a lively garden display.
Morning glory also assists with weed suppression. Its dense growth habit and broad leaves shade the soil, reducing light for weed seeds. An extensive root system helps stabilize soil, offering erosion control on slopes. The plant is hardy and thrives in various soil conditions, though it prefers well-drained soil and full sun.
Disadvantages and Risks of Using Morning Glory as Ground Cover
Despite its attractive qualities, morning glory presents disadvantages and risks as ground cover, primarily due to its aggressive and invasive nature. The plant can rapidly outcompete and smother desirable vegetation, including garden plants, shrubs, and even small trees. Its twining stems can tightly wrap around other plants, restricting their growth and blocking essential sunlight.
A primary concern is morning glory’s prolific self-seeding capability. A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds, which remain viable in the soil for extended periods, sometimes for 20 years or more, making long-term control a persistent challenge. The seeds are easily dispersed, contributing to its widespread establishment.
Morning glory develops deep and extensive root systems, contributing to its resilience and making manual removal difficult. Fragments of roots left behind after pulling can readily resprout, leading to new growth. Once established, morning glory can become a nuisance, requiring continuous management to prevent it from overtaking garden spaces.
In some regions, certain species of morning glory, such as field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), are classified as noxious weeds due to their environmental and agricultural impact. These classifications highlight the plant’s potential for ecological disruption, as it can reduce biodiversity by displacing native species. Its aggressive spread can also impede agricultural practices by entangling crops.
Planting and Managing Morning Glory for Ground Cover
For gardeners using morning glory as ground cover, careful site selection is important to mitigate its aggressive tendencies. Choosing confined areas, such as isolated beds or spaces bordered by hardscaping, can help prevent unintended spread. The plant performs best in locations that receive at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily and have moderately fertile, well-drained soil.
When planting, direct seeding is a common method. To improve germination rates, it is recommended to scarify the hard seed coat by gently nicking it or soaking the seeds in warm water overnight. Seeds should be sown about half an inch deep, spaced 6 to 12 inches apart, and kept moist until established. Once established, morning glory requires regular watering, especially during dry periods, but over-fertilization should be avoided to promote flowers over foliage.
Managing morning glory’s aggressive growth is important. Regular pruning can help control its spread and density. Deadheading spent flowers to remove seed pods before they mature is an important strategy to prevent prolific self-seeding in subsequent seasons. Physical barriers or thick layers of mulch can also help contain the plant and suppress unwanted seedlings. Consistent vigilance is needed to keep morning glory within its designated area.
Alternative Ground Cover Options
For those seeking ground cover solutions without the aggressive characteristics of morning glory, several less invasive alternatives offer similar benefits. Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) forms a dense, low-growing mat with small, fragrant leaves and can tolerate some foot traffic, making it suitable for pathways or between pavers. It is also drought-tolerant and can suppress weeds effectively.
Sedum varieties, also known as stonecrop, provide excellent drought tolerance and come in various low-growing forms with succulent foliage and colorful blooms. They are particularly well-suited for hot, arid conditions and can quickly fill in spaces. Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is another popular choice, creating a vibrant carpet of flowers in spring and helping with erosion control on slopes.
Other options include vinca minor (Vinca minor), which forms a dense, evergreen mat and thrives in shady areas, and various types of clover, known for their ability to improve soil health and suppress weeds. These alternatives offer diverse textures, colors, and growth habits, providing effective ground cover without the intensive management required by morning glory.