what ed said ... the biggest damage will be you and your shovel to the tree roots ...... but the result.. is the trees reaction to grow feeder roots where you cut its roots ... of which.. it will then use.. to compete with the plant in the hole ... [sharpen your shovel.. it really helps when slicing thru tree roots .. and simply move your hole a few inches this way or that.. if you hit anything bigger than a shovel can cut] this is general tree lore ... though oak is one of the easier ones to deal with ... crikey.. a maple will fill the hole with its own roots in one season .. and suck the life out of everything... unless you take care .... most of this is based on my care of my 1600 hosta ... us hosta peeps are tree experts.. on some level ... the real trick.. is to bare root your new plant... plant in native soil which you dug out ... NEVER amend the hole.. NEVER fert only the hole.. and NEVER water only the hole ... the idea being .... is to NOT encourage the tree to put all its new feeder roots into the hole you dug ... in MI.. i have never heard of not being able to water under an oak ... if that were the case.. i would have to get rid of half my hosta ... anyway.. after planting and one good soaking in ...... broadcast all water .. but do check in drought ... properly mulched.. most of the things you note.. do note need a lot of water... for very long ... see link on proper planting ... good luck and have fun ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Whatever you use, make sure it is strong. For me, this vine is a vigorous grower. It has tendrils plus little feet that will attach themselves to brick, wood, bark, etc., and if mine is any indication, it will grow fast. Lovely dark green shiny leaves that stay on all winter. I need to keep mine within a smallish area so I prune it heavily all during the growing season. Mary

Our crossvine grows along a wooden fence. We have not done anything to support it yet; it's been in the ground at least 4 years. I am thinking that it needs some support to train it more like we want it, and to encourage it to cover more of the fence. We might tack a few wires to the fence slats and parallel to the ground, and thread the runners around the wires. But no decision yet. Like was mentioned above, our crossvine has twined into a nearby plant, in our case a wax myrtle. We'll probably remove those runners sometime this spring. But they don't seem to be doing harm, and lend an odd but pretty look to the w.m. when blooming - like little Christmas lights. Sorry, can not advise about attaching a trellis to a brick wall.

It makes a big difference whether you are thinking in terms of a typical yard in the city as opposed to a restoration/maintenance of an undeveloped natural landscape. I am against planting imported species that are well known offenders anywhere. Right now I'm looking into Russian Sage, for example, since that came up recently and I hadn't thought about it in regard of invasiveness in the long term. I'm disinterested or bored with sterile hybrids or exotics that are produced and marketed as bedding plants based flower size, form etc but don't believe they are a threat except in the fact that people seem to prefer these sissy plants-- the result being more and more are being added at the expense of regional natives which I would rather see more of. The result is boring, unimaginative and extremely artificial -- each part of the country looks much the same as the next in so far as gardens are concerned. It is as if they all sprang out of a Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart which I find creepy and more than a bit ridiculous. Knockout roses come to mind. On the other hand, some named native plants have also entered the trade providing a 'this plant is acceptable as an appropriate garden choice' nudge encouraging people to plant natives so I am, currently at least, thinking of this as a good thing. Reduced size, leaf color or other attributes seen in some named 'improved' varieties of switchgrass, bluestem, native shrubs etc are examples. Some of these plants in their natural state would overwhelm an average yard, two good examples are switchgrass and lantana. On the other hand, it would be too expensive to attempt a restoration project of any size with such plants so again its a matter of choice when planting an attractive yard in the city as opposed to restoration/maintenance of a large scale acreage where seeding with native species would be desirable. A city yard is an individual thing and should look interesting, compliment the home and be at its visual best as far as plant selections are concerned but it is by definition an artificial situation and can never be otherwise so I take that into account. Does it have to be native? No, but if you are claiming to have a native pocket prairie or a native landscape I think it should be predominantly native, say at least 95%? Invasive is often used in the wrong way but the term can sometimes be used appropriately when referring to a native species. Its usually a matter of a serious imbalance such as what has been called the 'green glacier' of cedar trees taking over the prairies or deer populations left unchecked.