Fabulous Evergreen Groundcovers: Growing Periwinkle

Fabulous Evergreen Groundcovers: Growing Periwinkle
By Md Hasmee Bin Mostafa

Groundcover plants offer many solutions to difficult landscape and garden areas. Groundcovers are, as the name suggests, plants that grow low and sprawl out over the ground, carpeting an area of yard or garden. Groundcovers are an effective means of mulching an area to prohibit weed growth, while adding beauty and interest to an otherwise un-plantable section of yard, or when used to fill in bare spots of a yard or garden for full color and foliage.

Evergreen groundcovers, those that hold their color and foliage year round, are among the most popular. Because they do not die back in cold months, evergreens are choice picks to provide color all year to a landscape, while continually masking less appealing aspects of a yard or garden. Most people think of needled, pine-like plants and trees when the word evergreen is mentioned, but not all evergreens have needles, many evergreens, especially evergreen groundcovers, are soft, leafy plants. Among the leafy evergreen groundcovers, periwinkle, or myrtle, is one of the most popular options.

There are two common types of periwinkle - vinca minor and vinca major.

Vinca minor is also commonly called myrtle. Vinca minor periwinkle has long shoots with numerous leaves that are one-half to two inches long. Leaves are shiny and oval with a rich, dark green color that is held year-round.

Vinca minor periwinkle blossoms with light purple, blue or white flowers (depending on the variety). Minor Periwinkle blooms early in the spring, usually in April, and sometimes again in the fall.

Vinca minor periwinkle growsto about six inches tall and sends out long trailing shoots in all directionsthat root where they touch the ground, then grow into new plants It is in this manner that the plant blankets an area.

Vinca minor should not be confused with what is commonly called Madagascar periwinkle. Madagascar periwinkle is a common bedding plant, but is an annual that dies each year.

Large periwinkle, or vinca major, grows similarly to vinca minor. Vinca major is a more aggressive variety of periwinkle, spreading quickly to fill in a section of yard.

Leaves on vinca major are up to three inches long. Vinca major periwinkle has blue, funnel shaped flowers beginning with a spring bloom which continues sporadically throughout the summer.

Non-flowering shoots of vinca major periwinkle mot in the ground at the tip to form new plants. Mounds of vinca major periwinkle may grow up to two feet high.

Both species of periwinkle are easy to plant and care for, which makes them ideal evergreen groundcovers for any gardener to keep.

Periwinkle prefers shade but also grows well in partial or full sun. The foliage will be a richer, darker color when planted in the shade, but the plants produce more flowers in the sun.

Periwinkle performs best when planted in well draining, organically rich soil, but it is a versatile plant that can take a lot of abuse and tolerates dry and sub-optimal conditions quite well. Periwinkle often requires little or no fertilizing. Do so only as needed, and apply fertilizers in the spring.

Vinca major is quite aggressive and spreads more quickly than vinca minor, so it is a good choice if you need to cover an ugly patch of yard in a relatively short amount of time. The usual spacing for periwinkle plants (either variety) is twelve to eighteen inches apart. At six inch spacing, vinca major periwinkle will cover an entire area in one growing season.

Periwinkle can be planted anytime the soil is workable. Be sure to provide adequate water for new plants until they are well established (especially in summer). Newly planted sections will require weeding and mulching until the periwinkle fills in, but then very little weed maintenance is necessary as the periwinkle groundcover chokes out competing weeds. To encourage growth in a straggly or sparsely planted area, periwinkle can be sheared short.

Both periwinkle varieties, vinca major especially, are excellent ways to cover a hard to work, poor looking section of a yard. Periwinkles are ideal in areas where large rocks and tree stumps remain; the periwinkle will mound over the debris, disguising it and saving the cost of removal. Periwinkle is often used for planting beneath trees to cover large roots with a clean, attractive groundcover that saves the work of trimming grasses and invading weeds where they cannot be mowed.

Periwinkle's versatility in soil tolerance makes it a nice choice for a transitional area of a yard or garden spanning from a section of shade to one of sun. In addition to planting periwinkle as a groundcover, use it as a trailing accent in containers and flower boxes.

Diseases and difficulties effecting periwinkle are few. Die back, a fungal disease, is about the only problem growers of periwinkle face. Watering from a ground-level soaking hose and not watering overhead prevents the fungus. Sunken lesions on the stem at the ground-line indicate a fungal die back infection. Cut away the effected plant sections and the plant usually rebounds itself without chemical intervention; periwinkle's lack of need for chemical fertilizers and treatments makes periwinkle a good choice for an organic landscape.

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