Re: Managing the Invasive Kudzu Hi Daniel - I am an amateur gardener and I have a very invasive ground vine in the garden. Both my neighbours on either side also have it. I can't see anything even close to it other than Kudzu. I don't think I've seen the flowers, but the vine runs rampant in beds. Is it possible that it's kudzu? If not, is there anything close or related that it could be? I live in the Edmonds area of SE Burnaby. I cleared quite a bit of it when I moved in two years ago, and it's under control, but keeps returning each spring. Thanks. Christine
ed. -- the initial post was split from one of the weblog discussions on invasive kudzu Hello Christine, We live in the same neighbourhood. We're fortunate to have one of the best weed floras in the Lower Mainland of BC because of the old yard and garden waste dump that was here decades ago (in fact, I think the vents in the nearby new park sited on top of the old dump are there to release the gases from the decaying vegetation below). Since you mentioned that you haven't seen flowers, but you haven't discounted English ivy (Hedera helix ), that would be my suggestion as the most likely culprit. It is rampant on some of the alders on the east side of Byrne Creek Ravine Park down the hill (Hedera helix photos and description from Virginia Tech). The other weedy vine that's here in spades is periwinkle (Vinca minor), but it is flowering now, and generally not shy about doing so (Vinca minor photos and description from Univ. of Connecticut). If it's neither one of those (and given the history of the area, there is a small potential it could be something else), please send me an email and I'll go have a look, perhaps on a Sunday walk.
While English ivy is also present, the prominent pest down here is Irish ivy. We also have Greater Periwinkle. Then there's giant morning glory. That might be the most like kudzu.
Thank you both for your responses and suggestions. We have periwinkle in the back alley, and we had a huge English ivy vine in the area where this unknown vine is. I cut back most of the English ivy last year, and although ivy comes in different forms, I don't believe my mystery vine is either periwinkle or English ivy. It doesn't grow as rampantly as in the horror stories from the south, but I thought maybe the climate isn't so condusive? Daniel, I would love for you to have a look at this stuff. Let me know what arrangements you would like to make. I could easily drop a sample off to you or you could drop by. Christine
If you could post a photo or provide more of a description it might be possible for somebody to name it here right off the bat. Leaf size? Shape? Retention (Evergreen, Deciduous, Herbaceous (dying to ground)? Fruits?
I can't post a photo since I don't have a digital camera yet, but I will take a sample to my office tomorrow and either get a digital photo there or try to scan a polaroid. Here's more of a description. This vine grows along bare soil only. I haven't seen it climb at all. The root runs horizontally just a few mm. below the soil surface; it is white and fleshy, breaks easily, and has numerous hair-rootlets along the sides of the main root. When I'm careful, I can pull up 2-3 ft. of root before it breaks. The leaves come up every inch or so along the root and stand upright about an inch. The leaf is I guess compound (from what I remember in biology). There is a leaf at the end of the stem with three deep lobes (like a roundish maple leaf but with three lobes rather than five). Right behind running parallel to each other and 90° from the end leaf are two similar leaves, sometimes the lobes are not so deeply cut. The leaf is quite soft (very pretty) and a medium to light green, lighter on the underside, and with obvious ribs running down each lobe of the leaf. The leaf is notched or serrated (forget what it's called) along all edges. Overall the leaf is quite mint-like. It doesn't have the glossiness or leatheriness of an ivy or periwinkle. The above-ground stem is no more than 2 1/2 inches, and is triangular in shape with a flat side facing the leaves. As I said, I have never seen flowers or fruit. I was very interested in hearing the background of the garden fill in this area, Daniel. Last spring I pulled out what I'm sure was a Mexican Bamboo (Japanese Knotweed) from the same bed. It grew about six feet in what seemed like no more than two weeks. Mainly I identified it by its hollow trunk and by looking at pictures of the leaves. It came out easily, and I've not seen any sign of its return this spring. I'm wondering if the soil in this bed could be contaminated soil from a landfill?
Nope, that's not it, Ron. It is much rounder than that (I looked up several sites for pics) and it definately has serrated edges. I've also seen nightshade flowers elsewhere, but not in my garden. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. Christine
If you're not able to do the scan / take a pic, I can drop by on Sunday. I'm at a conference this week, so I'm booked solid to Sat. evening.
Hi - I've been able to scan an actual leaf, sorry no root attached. Attached are two views, upper and underneath. /C
My initial impression is that this is an umbellifer (carrot relative), possibly Aegopodium podagraria.
It's a pretty rare occasion that I disagree with Ron, and this is like most other times. Check out these links: Aegopodium podagraria from MissouriPlants.com Aegopodium podagraria from USDA Plants Database
Sounds like that's the culpret, and I won't have to worry about getting up some morning and finding my car missing under kudzu. Thank you both for your help. I guess we can close this file, and you can enjoy your weekend, Daniel. Now if only this rain would stop, I could get out and do some weeding... Christine