Bittersweet and Grape Vine: Respouting After Cutting

Here's why it's so important to go back and check on cut vines and roots. In this case a 2" diameter stem was cut in early spring (about 2 months ago). Note the vigorous regrowth. A small, new root has also developed. Anticipating your question- no treatment was applied to the cut area when the stem was cut.

 



 

Keeping with today's "resprouting" theme here's a wild grapevine that was cut and has resprouted:



Landscape Service Companies: What Do They Know?

Many Glastonbury residents have turned over the bulk of their landscape maintenance tasks to a landscape or lawn service company. Services may include fertilizing, mowing, edging, leaf removal, spring and fall clean-up, snow removal and more.

One frequently overlooked area is the invasive plant management plan for the property. If you're lucky you don't need a plan. But if your property includes or borders a field or wooded area or there is an invasive plant problem nearby, odds are you will eventually have a problem if you don't already.

The most common and damaging invasive in Glastonbury is oriental bittersweet, with burning bush (winged euonymus) and Japanese knotweed next on the list. Wild grapevine also does damage and poison ivy is a nuisance but as native plants they are technically not invasive.

Landscape and lawn service companies vary widely when it comes to invasive plant expertise, as well as how (and even whether) they deal with problems like oriental bittersweet infestation. There is a good chance that controlling invasives (other than as part of the regular lawn maintenance) does not fall within your current service agreement.

When selecting a landscape service company you'll need to ask them specifically about their expertise in eradicating and controlling oriental bittersweet and any other invasives you want to get rid of. Ask the company if they offer such a service, how qualified they are, whether they have any necessary license(s), what the service entails, the cost, and what kind of result you can expect.

One way to determine a service provider's knowledge is to walk your property with the provider. Have them point out any invasive plant issues by identifying the plants and explaining what the control plan would be for that plant. If the provider overlooks or mis-identifies plants, or you are not satisfied with their plan, you may want to look for someone with more expertise.

How Do You Tell Your Neighbor They're Infested?

Infested with what? Not termites, carpenter ants, bedbugs or lice. Oriental bittersweet!

Most of us here in Glastonbury adhere to the fine old New England tradition of respecting our neighbor's privacy. If a neighbor's junk pile of stuff that is no longer recognizable becomes a main feature of the view from our deck, we might mention it with the greatest of tact. If nothing changes we might look the other way, offer help with removing it, or perhaps cut to the chase and plant a hedge!

We can at least take solace in knowing that tacky is not contagious. It isn't spread by berries and doesn't have roots and vines that will just grow through the hedge into our property.

Then there's oriental bittersweet. It is highly contagious from property to property. Berries are eaten and spread by birds; roots can travel many feet under fences and pop up on a neighbor's property. Vines will grow into trees then spread into neighboring trees and drop berries, producing more vines.

The result is that some of us work hard and spend time keeping our property from becoming infested, only to face an endless supply of new infestation due to a neighbor's unintentional ignorance or neglect.

How DO you tell a neighbor their property is infested? How do you educate a friend or neighbor on the damage the vines will cause on their own property, and how that contributes to widening the infestation and damage to other peoples' property? Do you talk about the impact on property values when trees die and an entire neighborhood is visibly infested? Do you organize an intervention?

The better you know your neighbor the easier it is to bring up the topic in a friendly, constructive way. We already know the excuses- ignorance, time, money, l-a-z-y and "who cares?" Some neighbors may be physically unable to deal with the problem and financially unable to pay someone else to do it. How can we help them?

This post doesn't claim to know the answer. One thing is for certain. Containing the spread of damage caused by oriental bittersweet depends heavily on neighbor educating and helping neighbor.

What are your ideas on how to educate a neighbor?

Oriental Bittersweet: Is 2013 A Tipping Point?

Several of Glastonbury's experienced bittersweet battlers have commented that they are seeing more bittersweet infestations than ever, especially new growth in areas that had been clear in the past.

Are we just suffering from bittersweet paranoia? Or has the wet weather created a perfect storm for bittersweet growth? Have some of the larger infestations in town provided such a rich supply of berries that a large number of new infestations is inevitable?

What have you been seeing in your part of town?

Oriental Bittersweet: When to Cut Vines?

Oriental bittersweet berries start to form in late summer into fall so the best time to cut vines is before the berries develop. If you cut after the berries develop they'll still drop from the cut vines and re-seed the area. Birds will also eat the vines and spread infestation to your neighbors and around town. If you don't cut at all that guarantees the berries will develop so if the only time you can cut is during berry season, go for it. It will help limit the infestation next year.

From a comfort point of view springtime is a good time to cut, before weather gets too hot and before extensive underbrush develops and makes access to the base of the vines difficult. Cutting before leaves develop on the vines will allow the tree canopy to benefit from spring growth and begin recovering sooner.

Keep in mind that if leaves have not appeared yet you may not be able to distinguish small bittersweet vines from poison ivy, so take appropriate precautions on the assumption that some vines may be poison ivy.

If you are taking a "cut and treat" approach an excellent time to cut is late fall when the vine is pulling nutrients from the leaves to the root system. It will draw any treatment you apply to the cut stem back to the root system. Whether or not to use an herbicide is an individual decision (see "Invasive Plant Control and Disclaimer" tab of this blog).

Although some times are better than others there is no bad time to pull or cut oriental bittersweet vines. Cutting even one large vine about 9" above ground and then cutting the portion hanging from the tree about 5' off the ground will provide a huge amount of relief to the tree canopy as the vine drops its leaves and stops strangling the tree trunk and branches.

Cutting mature vines a little above ground level makes it easier to go back later, find the cut stems and inspect for re-sprouting. Pulling the entire vine out of the ground is an excellent approach but is not always possible. Cutting the portion left hanging from the tree about 5' above ground makes it harder for future vine regrowth to latch onto the old vine and climb back up into the tree.

Pulling the remaining vine down from the tree is a good cosmetic approach but not necessary. Most vines are quite securely attached and pulling the vine can damage tree branches. It can also be dangerous if the vine is attached to broken or rotted tree limbs. If the vines have leaves on them you may not be able to see the condition of the tree limbs under the leaves. Eventually the vine will drop on its own.

Properly dispose of cut or pulled vines, especially if there are berries on the vines. For proper disposal information go to CIPWG's disposal guidelines.

Be sure to do your research before attacking your bittersweet infestation. It will make your investment of time and work much more effective. Always inspect trees and the tree canopy for unsafe conditions before working in any wooded area. Identify any poison ivy (use a product like Tecnu), and inspect for ticks after working in the woods.

2013 CIPWG Support Proposal Submitted

On May 31st GPIP applied for support from the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (www.cipwg.uconn.edu) in connection with our proposed work day later this year. A CIPWG review board considers all applications and selects those they will be able to support.

 

CIPWG support consists of helping to get the word out to their extensive network of experienced volunteers, a presence at the actual work day, and support with other project activities.

 

We're hopeful that our proposal will be approved but either way, our work day is

tentatively scheduled for September 28, 2013.

 

Stay tuned for updates!

Mugging Mugwort

Here's a link to an interesting blog post concerning mugwort:

 

http://ancientgardenerblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/mugging-mugwort.html

 

And here's the mugwort video from our Riverfront Park Invasive Plant Walking Tour:

 

 

 

Oriental Bittersweet Root Structure

Ever wondered just how far out those oriental bittersweet roots extend?

 

 

Here are two vines that were carefully hand-pulled to answer the question. Neither vine is more than a couple feet in length above ground, but the top vine has over 6 feet of root length, and the lower has over 8 feet! Given the perennial nature of these vines and the fact that new growth sprouts from the root structure, it's a pretty scary picture. If you pull the vines be sure to get as much as possible, and go back periodically to remove any additional sprouting.

GPIP Invasive Plant Walking Tour, June 5, 2013 (playlist)

 

Our invasive plant walking tour on June 5, 2013 was a big hit! The event was well attended and Donna Ellis gave an insightful and educational presentation. Donna is Senior Extension Educator at UCONN, and co-chair of the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group www.cipwg.uconn.edu

Here's a link to the excellent "Invasive Plants In Your Backyard!" brochure that was handed out.
 

Thanks to Ray Purtell of the Glastonbury Park and Rec Department for attending

and for his opening remarks to kick off the event.

 

If you missed the tour please take advantage of the video presentation to watch it mosquito-free from your computer at home!