Vines Vines Vines

There's nothing quite like strenuous yard work to pull you out of a funk.  So, in order to drag myself out of mine, I decided it was time to start tackling the numerous and varied vines that have invaded our yard.  I already spent hours (and hours and hours) pulling or digging out most of the volunteer saplings that surrounded the perimeter of the yard.  I have to admit that I was pretty impressed by all the different species of trees that were present -- at least two kinds of maples, sassafras, various oaks, and even an American beech. 

However, I was even more impressed by all the different invasive vines that were strangling the various trees and shrubs in our yard -- particularly given the size of our yard and the number of vines present on it once we really started looking for them.

Here's a little photo tutorial on significant chuck of the invasive vines types that grow in southeastern Pennsylvania.  We had some "nice" specimens of them all.  I think we knocked things back, but we'll have to be vigilant for the next few years.  (Photos were mostly copied from Invasive.org, which is the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.) 

1) Virginia Creeper (5 leaves, but otherwise grows exactly like poison ivy; it even has furry vines)

2) Oriental Bittersweet - makes bright red berries in fall

3) Poison Ivy (My personal favorite!)

4) Japanese Honeysuckle

5) Kudzu (This one is a big problem....you know when you drive on the highway and see acres of trees covered with the same kind of vine?  That's usually kudzu.  Definitely not good for a yard.)

6) Crown vetch

7) Bishop's Weed or Goutweed - This one isn't really a vine, but a noxious ground cover.  We're not even close to having it under control, but we're working on keeping out of the front bed, as a start.  Apparently, if we wanted to rid ourselves of it completely, we'd have to remove the top 24" of soil from the entire surface of our yard (and perimeters of our neighbor's yard).  If you see any of this plant in your yards, you should aggressively and immediately work to remove it.  It is resistant to all types of contact chemical weedkillers due to its deep roots, so you have to manually pull it out, making sure to dig out all its roots completely.

8) Wild Grape - If you have this one in your yard and want to get rid of it, please note that you really have to dig out the root.  This vine will quickly re-sprout from any stump or other root piece left in place.