Kudzu Indoors

Where did Vickie go!!!

sad to say, but i noticed kudzu growing beside the road today that i didnt remember it being there last year.
we have to speak up and try to save what little bit of native habitat we have left.
saying that it can be contained is nonsense, at best. if it produces flowers, then it produces seeds, birds eat seeds, birds poop seeds....whalaa, another section of land is consumed.
wisteria is another monster. my mom, for whatever reason planted wisteria and we've had an ongoing battle with it for over 5 years now. you'd think that it was easy enough to keep trimmed back and not let the runners go wild, but those seeds can fly remarkable distances.

Poor Vickie left the country I think...........she probably regrets having said anything!
Ms Jen............I may be in for real trouble then. I have wisteria all over my little yard............ I have 5 in my front garden. I have 4 in my courtyard in pots, I have a big 30 year old vine over my porch and 5 more in pots in the back and Ijust planted 7 standards across the side of my property. I never have had a problem.......... I hope I am not jinxed now! Sometimes it is better not to know then it does not happen!!!!!!!!!! or perhaps it happens but you do not realize it is bad.

kell, i'm not sure what variety you have so its hard to say if youll be in trouble. from what i can understand, chinese wisteria is the one on the invasive list. the american wisteria seems to be a bit more behaved.
it irritates me to walk in to home depot or lowes and see chinese wisteria for sale, but until the government actually bans the sale of it, i guess people have a right to buy it.
the spectacular show that it puts on in the spring (and the smell is incredible) makes you forget about the potential threat. i'm down to 1 purple that i keep in bush form, its over 100 years old and 1 white one that cant decide if it wants to b a threat or not.
ill post a pic of the bush
jen

Je...please do. the 100 year old most be a great site!!! I think I hav eonly one chinese one and it is my old one. I just took my pond out that was in front of it and put in dirt and I have noticed I am gettng little wisteria now around it. I bet the pond contained the roots and now they can wander. OH NO!!
I have several of the cookes purple and they have not put out runners.

When you say invasive so you mean the canopy or runners?

I also have the white venustra. My pink ones may be chinese............. and I have a carolina. I will have to go look at the tags...............and pray

kell,
I don't know what kind of Wisteria I have, just the ordinary been here for years kind. It has been a little invasive(runners), but so far has not taken over. I just have to cut it or mow it to keep it in check. It will come up everywhere and if it had not been here when I moved in, I would have put it in pots to control it.
weeds

kell, if you keep it trimmed back, you should be able to control it.
we have this one wisteria stump that we dug out, burned with gas, poured straight round-up on it and darned if it didnt come back the next spring.
we control the invasion of this monster by cutting the runnrs, mowing down the seedlings and trimming the canopy. but its also in the middle of the yard where it would have to be neglected for years for it to be able to reach the trees.
chinese wisteria is gorgeous, no doubt, but its definately a plant that you have to spend time with to keep it under control. they will also send up new shoots from the roots that run, but usually youll mow them down. i'd be leary of planting it where it can reach out and touch something.

I have this vision that this next spring I will sit in the middle of my little wisteria garden of all colors of wisteria while it is in full bloom. I just love wisteria blooms! With my luck as I sit there all the runners will strangle me. LOL

nah, it wouldnt grow fast enough to strangle you while sitting there, but i'm sure the bees would be delighted to have you nearby, lol
the biggest threat of it around here is it tangles up the power lines and invades the transformers. the power company is forever trying to control it around the poles.
a few years ago our cable gradually started blipping in and out, the cable company attributed it to the wisteria tightening around it and pulling it loose.
also during hurricane george, we did lose power but our lines stayed intact and we had it restored that afternoon. the lineman said the wisteria saved us then, too.
so whats a girl to do????

I have not been entwined by kudzu or wisteria - yet. Just watching the vine and its "threads." Don't get me wrong - I don't plan to introduce MORE kudzu ("krudzu" as my sister calls it). I am just trying to find other uses for what's already here. My main concern with the vine is that it is using water that we desperately need here in NC. C'mon, guys, can't you envision a park with giant kudzu topiaries in shapes of animals (beasts?) and castles? How about kudzu habitats? You know, rooms and dwellings sculpted inside the vine. And, then, get HGTV to come in and accessorize all for less than $500? Or maybe get Susie Coelho The Surprise Gardener to come in with her Green Team and clear the stuff out all in one day? By the way, wisteria spreads by runners which will crop up far away from the mother vine.

Vickie, lets hope so......LOL, I have a small yard! Let it be my neighbor's problem! Oh.......that was not nice of me!
Glad we did not run you out of town!

There is a park like that in TN.........Natchez Trace!!!!

"eyes"

Where in TN is Natchez Trace?