Invasive vine growing in azaleas!

15 years ago

I transplanted several mature azaleas a couple of years ago from downtown West Columbia, SC to my rural Lexington County, SC home (about 30 miles away.) Unfortunately, this pesky vine came along for the ride! It grows from the core of the shrubs, has a "twining" habit like jasmine, but, when growing along the ground, roots like a trailing groundcover at the leaf intersections (there's a word for that - can't remember it at the moment!).

It's doesn't "milk" when broken, like Star Jasmine, for example, doesn't flower - or at least, hasn't yet, and, unless I'm immune, doesn't cause and kind of rash, etc. upon contact with the skin.

I've seen something that looks similar growing in shrubbery at USC, where I work. I'm going to also post this on the Carolina Gardening forum as other SC gardeners may be familiar with pest!

It's here, and, short of digging up all my azaleas, I suspect it's here to stay! But if anyone out there can help me identify it, I would be most grateful!

I've posted some shots onto PhotoBucket rather than uploading them here... here are the urls:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd87/lilybelle_bucket/Demon%20Vine/DemonVine.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd87/lilybelle_bucket/Demon%20Vine/GrowingInAzalea.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd87/lilybelle_bucket/Demon%20Vine/PulledVinesInTangledPile.jpg

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Comments (8)

saltcedar
15 years ago
{{gwi:332315}}

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Honeysuckle I believe.

HTH
Chris
claudia_sandgrower
Original Author
15 years ago
No, I sure it's not honeysuckle. I should have mentioned that the mature leaves average about 2" long and 1" wide and have a slightly velvety texture.

Thanks for the response, though, Chris!
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I would also want it to compete with the Norway maple to slow its growth ===>>> yeah ... good luck with that ... lol ... if the most invasive weed on earth ..... grass ... wont grow under a norway.. good luck with anything else ... if we are to presume that a tree is twice as large underground.. as above... how are a couple little vines going to slow it down ... regardless ... give it a try ... if you can provide enough water for the vine.. in excess of what the tree will steal ... and the vine actually can become established and thrive.. it might be a really cool affect ... i would recommend not amending the soil .... and never watering the vine alone.. bare rooting it.. and planting in only in the soil removed in digging the hole ... you might get it going.. but any amendment .. fertilizer.. or water specific.. will encourage the maple to come fill the hole you dug with feeder roots.. and in the long run.. strangle the plant .... i know this for a fact from growing some odd 1500 hosta under a myriad of trees ... maples .. among others ... are super competitors .... and .. given time.. will take everything that other plants might need ... and norway is their king ... good luck ken ps: even if you decided to increase your odds by trying to grow the vine in a 20 gallon pot.. under the tree.. on top of the native soil .... within a few years.. the roots of the tree will fill the pot.. these darn things arent even limited to mother earth .... maybe they are aliens ...
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I let my yard go for years (Tucker GA / NE Atlanta). I don’t have expert knowledge, but this is what I have done. Ignore the spam on my name (I will probably see any replies). I have privets, Chinese honeysuckle, Greenbriars, and of course poison ivy. Two years ago about 10 pine trees were cut down, and all these invasive species exploded in the backyard. In two years time the privets are 20 feet tall, some of them wrapped in poison ivy and Honeysuckle vines). Two years ago I chopped the large poison ivy vines from the pine trees, and I sprayed the poison ivy leaves that were growing around those trees. Two years later all that poison ivy is gone. The same round up that works on poison ivy has no effect whatsoever on greenbriars nor privets (and strike3, very little effect if any of the honeysuckle). I could mix the poison and stronger, BUT ITS POISON (so I don’t want to do that for spraying). So I bought a plastic paint can and about 50% strength concentrated poison, that I plan to use [strategically rather than sprayed it everywhere] to paint the stump of vines after I cut them. And to girdle some of the privets. In the last few weeks I have cleared about half of my backyard (I put a metal blade in a string trimmer, and it will chew up the vines and the greenbriars that like to twist around each other, but not the privets). Of course the first part of the yard I cleared already has 2 foot weeds growing again. After I cleared this area there are so many roots on the ground from the honeysuckle that the whole yard looks like a plate of spaghetti. I’m thinking about hiring a contractor to use a skid steer to scrape off the vines, then maybe I could plant some grass and get the mower in there for regular maintenance.
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I have a vine I'm sure is the same as yours. It's runs along just below the surface, putting out fine roots along the big main root, and climbs up any bush it finds, especially azaleas. It always has two adjacent leaves along the vine and never blooms. I finally got this under control, but not yet abolished. After cutting an azalea back so I could reach across it, I reach down with gloves and pull on the vine as low as I can and snap it off or pull up most of the root. By doing this every time you see a shoot, the big underground horizontal root will eventually give up on the azalea and start moving outside the plant area. Always look for those sprouts and pull those up too. Never let the vine tip leaves get any more sun than you can help. It will take a year or two for large infected azaleas but eventually you may eradicate it. I have about 60 azaleas and I have only about a half dozen I still have to watch. No one has been able to identify the vine but iv'e seen it sprouts up in the cleared woods area on the edges of my yard. It may be native to here in South Alabama.
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Iris GW
15 years ago
Honeysuckle, really, it is. The opposite positioning of the leaves is a clue, as is the brownish/woody nature of the older pieces and the green supple stems of the new growth.

It may not be the japanese honeysuckle that you're used to, but there are other honeysuckles out there. And honeysuckle, for the most part, is a very aggressive, invasive grower.
carol23_gw
15 years ago
Absolutely, I agree, Lonicera , Honeysuckle
claudia_sandgrower
Original Author
15 years ago
OOPS! Sorry, Chris... I stand (publicly!) corrected! I really should know better... I'm a novice among experts. :-\
Thanks for the help... looks like I'm stuck pulling them out until I move the bushes or myself!

Claudia
helenh
15 years ago
Put some diluted roundup in a small openinged bottle and put the end of the vine in it. Prop it up somehow so it won't spill and make sure that no little kid could get it. Leave it there until the vine dies.
claudia_sandgrower
Original Author
15 years ago
I would have never thought of that! What kind of ratio of water-to-Roundup... 50-50, maybe?

There aren't any kids around my house and the dogs are enclosed in the back, fenced portion of the property... the azaleas are outside the fence, so no problem there. Does a 2-liter soda bottle sound about right for the container?

The vines do come up from center of the base of the bushes... can the Roundup hurt the bushes if the roots of the Honeysuckle are mingled with the azalea's roots? (I think that azalea roots tend to be shallow... not sure about the Honeysuckle.)
helenh
15 years ago
I did this to sweet autumn clematis climbing in my shrubs; part of it died. I think it was more than one taking over my shrubs. A nursery man told me they spray weeds carefully that are in the pots with their woody plants. I know if you get round up on a herbaceous stem, it will kill it. I used a small plastic water bottle; I would hesitate to use something that might tempt a little kid. There are no kids here. I just tried this once; it wouldn't hurt to try it fairly dilute and make it stronger if it didn't work.

Invasive vine growing in azaleas!

Comments (8)

saltcedar

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Invasive vine growing in azaleas!

Comments (8)

saltcedar

claudia_sandgrowerOriginal Author

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