Ohhhh, Stacey! How I wish I had a quick and easy solution for un-doing the monoculture of vinca minor.
I'm still pulling it. I planted this invasive ground cover to choke out the poison ivy and Virginia stickseed, and ohhh how I am paying for it.
Beware the horsetail (another medicinal plant, dating back to dinosaur days, and native, so it's good right?) - you'll be digging six feet deep, or repairing busted up concrete in your driveway, if you try to establish this fascinating plant in your yard. I still have time (I think) to dig out what I planted....
A Native Gardening group at Facebook is of two minds about the horsetail. "Natives are not invasive. The correct term is aggressive." Name it what you will - others say this horsetail is destructive. The consensus seems to be "plant it in containers only."
I wrote:
Just when I had gotten some Equisetum hyemale or Equisetum arvense (not sure which) established here, I read that it can be extremely invasive (it's native! it's medicinal! I love it!). The time to stop it is NOW, but I'm thinking maybe this is the way to choke out the vinca minor I planted in hopes of choking out the poison ivy, Virginia Tickseed, and motherwort. Ha ha ha. I'm like the old lady who swallowed the fly. MUST I GET RID OF THIS.... how will I slow its advance, if I don't....
https://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-grow-or-eradicate-horsetail-plant/
I'll be pulling out periwinkle for years to come. Maybe if plant horsetail there, it'll choke out the vine. Or maybe I'll just swallow a horse.
Speaking of pretty blue flowers, here's another, very popular, but it will choke out every other ephemeral in your woodland understory:
Invasive Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) has arrived in Fairlington Arbor. Like a lot of now invasive plants brought here from other places, it’s pretty. But don’t buy it! Don’t plant it! If you have it, dig it out - carefully – it’s toxic and can cause skin irritation. From Minnesota Wildflowers: “This is a classic case of gardening gone awry. Siberian Squill was brought to this country as an ornamental and is still sold in Minnesota and elsewhere, but it has also escaped into the wild and become invasive. It readily spreads itself and is difficult to get rid of, as broken roots often resprout. It is very hardy and cold tolerant and is left untouched by critters from voles to deer. Sadly, the same traits that make it attractive as a garden plant (besides the vivid color) are also what make it invasive.” More at https://minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/siberian-squill
HAHA the never ending battle! Fortunately for me, my yard is tiny. I managed to pull out all the vinca runners in one spot in a few days, and have only the originally planted crowns left. I might take out this entire bed - which is of heuchera, hosta, boxwood and grasses besides vinca - and plant perennial food plants there instead. We'll see. I have the rest of my life to get it done.
Glad to see you're back!