Concrete Jungle

The other day, a colleague and I went to grab lunch at Terra Breads cafe, which is in an industrial area close to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Village. I typically go there for lunch once a week, but it had been a while since my last visit. Usually I park out front, but this time we parked a couple of blocks away. As we were walking, I noticed that a number of the businesses have planted some shrubs and plants in front of their offices and shops—a nice touch in this concrete jungle. Then I saw that morning glory (also known as hedge bindweed) was wrapping itself around some of this greenery.

I remarked to my colleague, Tristan, that the morning glory was really taking over. He commented that its large white trumpet flowers are really pretty - it's true, they are quite attractive. Then I explained that this is the stuff I've been battling in my back garden - it winds itself around other plants and it's fiddly to remove it from its victims, especially ferns. Also, it's difficult to get rid of it entirely - new plants are constantly popping up. "This stuff is invasive," I said. With every step, we saw more and more of it. In fact, it had crept into the green spaces in front of every business we passed. On the way back to the car, we couldn't help but notice a carpet of it that stretched the entire length of a building. When we lifted the leaves, we saw that there was no dirt underneath - the multiple thick, ropey twine of vines were resting on the concrete below! This stuff is invincible, I thought.

Just a week earlier, my friend told me that morning had completely taken over a tree on her parent's farm. Walking and driving around the city, I have started to notice it everywhere: ambling up the fence by Mountain View Cemetery, taking hold of shrubs in the boulevard near Superstore SE Marine Drive, climbing shrubs in people's front yards, dotting the hillside across from my office.

According to BC Forests, hedge bindweed can twine, trail or climb to 3 metres. It is part of the Convolvulaceae family of plants, which always twine from right to left, opposite the course of the sun. The Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant Council considers hedge bindweed an established invasive, meaning that is widespread and abundant throughout this region. Management is focused on reducing the impact of morning glory and controlling its spread because successful eradication is unlikely.

In my own garden, I have seen how bindweed can quickly grip and begin smothering plants in a really short period of time. Since encountering the jungle of morning glory in the industrial area down on West 5th Avenue, I’m even more compelled to chop it down to the ground as soon as I see it. Check out a video on how to eliminate morning glory from Steve Whysall, garden columnist at the Vancouver Sun.