7
Invasive, Non-Native Vines
All of these vines shade out the
shrubs and young trees of the
forest understory, eventually killing
them, and changing the open
structure of the forest into a
dense tangle. Do not plant next to
open space.
Kudzu (
Pueraria lobata
), the vine
that smothered the South, is now
spreading through the Northeast
and Midwest. It grows extremely
rapidly both above and below
ground, and can pull down trees.
Control: small patches may be
eliminated by repeated weeding (1),
mowing (2), or grazing; established
infestations can only be controlled
with herbicide (10) or (11) – expect
re-growth, but wait a full year and
re-treat in the third year. Herbicide
is most effective in early fall.
Controlled burning (4) of the dead
plants the following spring allows
native vegetation to return.
Japanese Honeysuckle (
Lonicera
japonica
), including Hall’s
honeysuckle is a rampant grower
that spirals around trees, often
strangling them.
Control: (1); (3); (10); (11) in fall
or early spring when native
vegetation is dormant. Plan to re-
treat repeatedly.
Wisteria, Chinese and Japanese
(
Wisteria sinensis, W. Floribunda
)
both become heavy, woody vines
that can pull down a large tree.
Control: (1); cut back and
deadhead ornamental plants (2);
(10).
Oriental Bittersweet (
Celastrus
orbiculatus
) has almost
completely displaced American
bittersweet (
C. scandens
). The
Asian plant has its flowers and
bright orange seed capsules in
clusters all along the stem, while
the native species bears them only
at the branch tips.
Control: (2); keep ornamental
plants cut back, remove all fruits
as soon as they open, and bag or
burn fruits; to eradicate use
Garlon 3a (10).
Porcelain Berry (
Ampelopsis
brevipedunculata
) has small, hard
fruits in a loose, flat cluster that
turn from white to yellow, lilac,
green, and finally a beautiful
turquoise blue.
Control: (1) before fruits appear;
keep ornamental plants cut back,
and bag or burn fruits before they
ripen; to eradicate use Garlon 3a
(10).
English Ivy (
Hedera helix
) grows
up trees and can eventually pull
them down. It spreads along the
ground and occasionally by fruits.
Control: clip off flowers or fruits
if any are seen (2), and (1) pull
any seedlings. To eradicate ivy
climbing trees, cut stems as high
above ground as you can reach,
then pull down and paint lower
portion of stems and foliage with
Garlon 3a (10), taking care not to
wet the tree bark. Ground cover:
pull up as much as you can, dig
out the roots as well as you can,
and repeat until it no longer re-
sprouts; or treat re-growth with
Garlon 3a.
Wintercreeper (
Euonymus
fortunei
). Control: same as for
English Ivy, but Garlon is not
effective; glyphosate mixed with
extra sticker-spreader may be.
Vinca, Periwinkle (
Vinca minor
).
Control: with persistence, you can
dig out vinca (1); plan to remove
re-growth. If digging is not
feasible, cut to the ground and
treat re-growth with glyphosate
(11).
Recommended Native Ornamental Vines
American bittersweet (
Celastrus scandens
) has been almost
completely displaced by the Asian species. To preserve it, give it
preference, except where its exotic counterpart is present, because
the two hybridize.
Trumpet honeysuckle (
Lonicera sempervirens
), a semi-evergreen
twining shrub with tubular red flowers attractive to hummingbirds, is
uncommon but indigenous to the piedmont.
Native wisteria (
Wisteria frutescens
), much less aggressive than the
introduced ones, can be grown from Maryland south.
Trumpet vine (
Campsis radicans
) has dramatic flowers attractive to
hummingbirds, and Virginia creeper (
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
) has
spectacular red fall foliage, but be aware that both are aggressive
growers.
Native grapes (
Vitis spp.
) provide an enormous amount of food for
birds but are aggressive and not ornamental.
