i cant even tell .. from your pix.. if its LEAVES OF THREE ... and in LEAVE IT BE ... I DEALT WITH SUCH ONCE.. created my own full body hazmat type suit ... long blue jeans ... taped to work boots [what nut cuts trees in flipflops???] ... long sleeve shirt.. again taped to rubber gloves ... ... and then.. i cut at the ground.. and applied 100% roundup to the cut ... and then i cut it.. as far above as i could.... and left it all hanging in the tree ... riddle me this batman.. why does it need to be pulled down???? and then put all the clothes.. sans tape into the washer on high heat and heavy bubbles ... and then spent the next 3 years.. cutting every sprig that popped out of the ground.. and hitting it with roundup again.. until it finally died ... and then i found out.. it was an underground vine.. as big as the thing going up the tree .. and it had the ability to compartmentalize the killer .... dying back only so far.. and then sprouting again ... eventually i won.. but for the idiot birds who continue to plant babes all over the property ... i got quite a chuckle over your manly parade.... lol ... ken

What people do is cut the vine at the base and leave a couple leaves. Then they paint the leaves and the cut stem of the vine with roundup. Roundup is then transported by the vine to its roots where it kills the roots of the vine. It does not kill neighboring roots, so it is safe to use this way. The roundup must not touch any green parts of the azalea or other desirable plants, since it enters the green tissue and will kill that plant also. With vines, it is just about impossible to spray without hitting neighboring plants. Another alternative to brushing is to put on a cotton glove over a rubber glove and moistening the cotton glove with roundup and wiping the roundup onto the stub of vine under the desirable plants, avoiding any contact or dripping on the desirable plants. With nasty vines, they use strong concentrations of roundup or even the straight concentrate. That is quite risky since it will kill anything green it touches. If you haven't used roundup before, it takes about a week to 10 days to kill a plant. However if you get some on a desirable plant, you only have a couple minutes to wash it off. Roundup is an interesting material. I have some large trees next to my driveway. The lower branches obscure my view of coming cars. To defoliate these branches, I spray these branches with roundup. It doesn't kill the tree. Since these branches are such a small part of the tree, it just kills the portion of the roots that are feeding these branches and these branches die and the tree remains healthy. Many ivies and poison ivy have waxy leaves are are harder to kill with roundup. It takes a stronger concentration.

We have 10 acres of solid woods that we are starting to tame and I have to say, it has been much easier than we expected thanks to the use of landscaping fabric. We clear an area of any dead fall, prune to the ground any small tree or large stem weed, use the weed whacker to knock the brush down, and then use a mulching mower to grind it all up. The area is then clear to plant whatever you want, and then simply place the fabric around your plants, put on some mulch, and Voila! no more weeds! This method has gotten rid of garlic mustard, poison ivy, thorny wild raspberries, woodland shrubs and a bunch of other stuff that was growing. At first I was hesitant to put the fabric down, thinking is was too much work and too difficult to plant in afterward. But is was quick to lay down and very easy to cut. When you decide you want a special plant in a certain spot, you simply move back your mulch, slice an X into the fabric and you have easy access to your soil. It is great and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to tame large areas. This will be our 3rd year gardening in the forest and I have to say it is much more exciting than I ever imagined it would be. I thought my plant choices would be very limited but it is not true. Shade gardening is very rewarding, very beautiful and so very peaceful. Good Luck with your gardening, and so far everything you have done looks very beautiful.

Ken... lol... I don't even mow my yard. Generally speaking, I care not a wit about what grows where unless, like this vine, it can take over. Therefore, as long as it is in the yard, and has little practical purpose for being there, instead of giving it space to do its thing, I'll cut it back with the swing blade. Then I'll add it to the garden beds or the compost pile...just as I do with all the grass and weeds already in the yard. Since it does have the practical purpose of being an interesting type of beauty and, as my research has shown, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, it will continue to be allowed free reign in the treeline. My conception of beauty and desirability is much different than many... especially lawn-obsessed Americans. :-) For example... last time I cut the yard back, I found a few wild blackberries and a few sassafras trees encroaching from the treeline. I let both of them stay right in the front yard. I make my own wine, beer, and soda. Sarsaparilla is now on the drawing board! Woohoo!