How to Trim Myrtle Ground Cover

Prune back myrtle to prevent it from sending out excess runners and taking over your garden.

Myrtle ground cover is also known as periwinkle or vinca. This ground cover grows low to the ground and, once established, can be quite vivacious and take over a garden plot. Myrtle is a ground cover that grows with weekly watering and has little in the way of soil requirements other than drainage. Use it to edge a flower plot or to grow on an otherwise bare area of ground to choke out weeds. Myrtle has shiny, dark leaves and light purple blossoms.

Things You'll Need

• Clippers or scissors

Instructions

1. Allow myrtle to grow without pruning in the first year of its growing season so the plant will establish and you can judge the natural growing patterns of the plant.

2. Prune away any dead, diseased, or broken branches in the early spring. Look for signs that branches are affected in this way by watching for blackened or wilted branches or branches with any kind of white or grey growth clinging along the branch. Prune back to the first sign of healthy growth, making a clean cut with sharp clippers or scissors.

3. Deadhead the plant by pinching back any flowers that have wilted or browned after completing their blooming.

4. Assess the current growing pattern of the myrtle. If it has sent excess runners--branches that grow from a central cane, form roots, and begin to cover more area--cut back the runners so they do not exceed the boundary in which you wish them to grow.

5. Grow the myrtle in a bush-like clump and thereby training the plant not to send out runners far beyond its origin of growth. In the event that the myrtle is edging a flowerbed, cut back the tips of the runners to discourage excess growth.

References

• Ground Covers: Cultural Information
• Fernlea Flowers: Ground Covers: Myrtle