I had a great father, though my mother was absolutely wonderful. Dad was flawed, but when we siblings get together, it is of our dad that we tell the stories, starting with, "Remember when...?" He was born in the 1890s and did not marry till late, as the country was coming out of the Depression. Then within the first 7 years, he became the father of 4 noisy children. I suspect it was somewhat overwhelming for him. We were always being admonished with such phrases as "Nicely, quietly, and politely!" His favorite reply was no. If I whined that the neighbor girl was being allowed to do what he had denied me, he'd remark, "If Suzie jumped off a cliff, would you want to?" He had tall children and was forever telling us to stand up, stand tall, quit slouching over, and to speak up, quit mumbling, quit fiddling with that (whatever) and sit still. He had been the bachelor around town till marrying mom in his early 40s. The good lord punished him for all his ways with the ladies by giving him 3 daughters (and one son). How he worried about us girls, especially after Mom died. But we all turned out fine, though he did not live to see what we would do with our lives.

Actually less concerned with damaging my skin then damaging the tree...I heal. Main trunk is way too thick for a long reach pruner. Maybe four inches thick. These are among the few large cedar that still have that perfect conical shape. So far I have: 1.) Mentioned it to my Mom's landscaper (who hasn't done anything) 2.) Cut halfway through the main trunk of the vine with a long axe. (the leverage was wrong so I couldn't get more) 3.) Sprayed some Round Up (Possibly getting a tiny bit on the needles of the tree) Current plan is to: 1.) Use Facebook to see if a friend has a pole saw. 2.) Possibly Buy WeedBlaster Pro. (Or does anyone know where I can get a long reach mustard bottle?) 3.) Drive around the neighborhood looking for a skinny kid. When I find him, offer him money and ask him to get in my car. This is a project for a Father's Day visit, so I have more time to talk about this then to do it. Ordinarily I don't handle weed removal, leaving that to the landscapers. (I find the designation of what is a weed and what Is a desirable plant a bit arbitrary.) However, removing an invasive species climbing a tree and getting huge is a project that seems worth the effort. No expectation I will get rid of the bittersweet completely...want to remove the risk it will strangle or take down the tree for a couple decades.

My sympathies!! There may well be a vine in your area that is providing berries and therefore seeds to the entire neighborhood and beyond via the birds. "If I applied a herbicide to a freshly cut stump, can that affect my creeper? Basically, can the roots wind up spreading herbicide into the ground?" It depends on the herbicide you use, I think. There are some herbicides that remain in the plant residues for a while I believe. I usually use glyphosate ( the ingredient in the original Round-up) in full strength undiluted form as a brush killer. It only needs to be applied in a line on the cut stump just inside the bark where the xylem and phloem are, not even on the center of the stump. The advantage of Glyphosate is that is breaks down relatively quickly (a matter of a few weeks from application) and doesn't transfer from one plant to the other or leave active residues in soil. It needs to directly contact an open cut or a leaf surface to be effective. It may need repeat application the following year; I find that use on buckthorn may need repeating. Some herbicides can leave long-term residues and so would want to be avoided.

My favorite first tool for dealing with invasives, especially in loose soil is a large pair of parallel jaw pliers, something like these: https://www.amazon.com/Channellock-440-12-Inch-Tongue-Groove/dp/B00004SBCU?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_2 I can grab buckthorn or bittersweet down near the base and often can pull out the entire plant, including a good chunk of the roots. Then I put the pulled plants in locations that prevent the roots from touching soil such as propping the roots on rocks or leaning upside down against tree trunks or hanging them in other trees or shrubs For larger plants, I cut them off at ground level and drip a small amount of brush killer strength herbicide on the cut surface right where it meets the inner edge of the bark. The herbicide gets sucked down in to kill the roots, but I use far less herbicide and it has less chance of damaging other plants as long as I research an herbicide that doesn’t stay in the soil for a long time.