lkzia... unique name by the way took me 6 times to spell it right LOL :) I think you might have answered your own question.. You said "They really aren't around this area" "Only the toughest trees survive here" Your right they cant survive where they ain't even growing or EVEN AT for that matter LOL... think about it. And as far as being tough enough, well there isn't another tree on the planet that can survice a atomic bomb blast within 5 meters of where the bomb landed like this one did in Japan.... ITS TRUE go to DAVE'S GARDEN and type in tree of heaven and there is a link that documents It. Now tell me how many tress would survive that? LOL Im looking for some seeds of this tree, if ya got any and want to part with em let me know. I know how to make the tree very resistnat to round up.. simply apply it till it ALMOST dies then stops each time it should get stronger. LOL well at least Im thinking.

I am sure you could have found something less horrible-to -the native plants to grow up your tower. Oriental Bittersweet is one of the most awfully invasive plants to be introduced to the US. ( think the person who imported it should be bound & gagged with it, but he is probably dead already) . It is killing our native trees by the millions, maybe gazillions. It interbreeds with the native American bittersweet so in a way it would have not mattered if you planted that. I am surprised you had to spend money on it! Anyone who has it in their yard would GLADLY give you it for free. It is along the highways, the roadsides... everywhere! I have several hundred miles of the beast. It grows in the sun, it grows in the shade... Sorry, I just think its invasive qualities are a serious detraction to its beauty. It's like a cobra... winds around its victim.. squeezing and choking.. covering the crown, until the victim is dead.

well im voting for oriental bittersweet, TONS of seeds and very high germination rates, Kudzu few if any seeds germinate, Oriental bittersweet STRANGLES kudzu merly covers but doesn't strangle (i think) If kudzu becomes wiped out then there is not hardly near the seed bank that OB has, anyway just a few of my thoughts,, I want more opinions on this what is yours.

There is a big patch of Oriental Bittersweet on the edge of my property that I have been trying to kill for a few years now. The vines are too big to pull by hand, and Roundup doesn't even affect it at all. I would love to kill it all off, but I believe it is impossible to kill all of this stuff out. Any suggestions of what I can do to eradicate this pest?