virginia creeper

I have Virginia Creeper growing on and over a deck in a house I just purchased. I know nothing about this vine except that it has lots of aphids. Is this a plant I should want to keep?

Virginia creeper grows wild all over the place down here. It's extremely invasive. Personally, I'd get rid of it.

Find out how it behaves in your climate though before you get rid of it--in some places in the country it's better behaved and people like growing it.

I have a feeling that it is invasive here - I cut part of it down and in 2 weeks it was bigger that before. I may replace it with wisteria, which is not so prolific here. Thanks for the input!

I love wisteria, however, some cultivars can become crazy down here. My neighbor finally had to dig out her wisteria because it took over her whole fence and then started climbing up the cypress trees and killing them for lack of sunlight and coming down and scratching my car when I drove down the driveway.

Many people down here have wisteria and I always think of Spring when I see it. It grows wild here too. The trunks on some of these wisteria can be huge and once they take hold, it can be a real chore to get rid of it if you have to.

Listen to ecrane3, she's pretty darn knowledgeable about a lot of these plants, vines, etc. I keep having to give her credit, because she's been on the money every time I've had a question about a plant. Seeing as I'm a newbie, I need all kinds of help and she has been invaluable in providing it.

Wisteria is a favorite around here and does not seem to go crazy. I also am new to gardening and love to have all these helpful folks to get information. I will watch the Virginia Creeper and if it seems invasive and interfering with other plants then I will remove it. There are so many great things to plant so why have an invasive thing. i also have an ailanthus tree sprout coming up from the neighbor's ailanthus and that is definitely an invasive thing so that will have to go. I feel so destructive!

I know how you feel. VC is very invasive here. Its the only thing I use chemicals on because otherwise it would take over. I hate using them but for this wild plant its necesary.

So if i just pull it all out that won't be the end of it? What chemical do I have to use? I may wait to see if the chemical is necessary.

I dont know how it acts where you live.
Here, it tries to creep under my fences from a neighboring field. Its very thick and strong. I tried weed whacking the edges of the fence but it just laughed and grew stronger.
I then noticed it popping up near that fence in my yard. I poured Round Up all along the fence line and it retreated. I have to do this every year because I cant go on someone elses property to mow it down. The other owners let this area grow free.

Wow - it sounds like you have a private war with this stuff. Occasionally a little Round Up may be necessary, especially when the neighbors don't cooperate!

There are tame ones for sale these days in places like Lowes. they can be decorative, they turn red in fall, and are very pretty, with black/blue berries. It's easier to tear out every year like, say, autumn clematis, or an invasive kind of wisteria (there are less invasive types on the market now) but it can swarm up a bush or small tree before you're aware of it and kill it, so if you don't have any good reason to have it around, you might want to rip it out.

I like it. I let it creep all over my front porch and act as a screen from the neighboring houses (I went from living on 400 acres to living on a town street with close houses. Can you say Kee-rayzies!?!?) and it was a great privacy screen. However, when I got ill one year and lost track of it it tried to kill my korean spice viburnum.

When I'm not ill I keep my woodbine (or Virginia creeper) under control by ripping great lengths of it off the house-trees-ground, and great lengths of it up, out of the ground too, as it only goes about an inch deep, and I make spankin' great wreaths out of it (rip off the leaves, leave the creepy looking roots and sometimes leave the berries, too) but it can be a dangerous thing if you don't keep it under control.

I always live in old houses and this vine just comes with the territory.

Melis