The Invasion

Well.. perhaps just the start of an invasion.

 

If you have lived in the warmer areas of the US this is not new to you.  However there are some Yankees in our midst and they might need to be clued in.  Janet reported at the work day this morning  that this is showing up in the Matzke Park Butterfly garden. She suggested we get the word out.  So all hands on deck next time you are garden viewing and let’s get rid of this stuff.  Else, the garden could soon look like the banks of a Louisiana bayou. 

Kudzu’s root, flower, and leaf are used to make medicine. It has been used in Chinese medicine since at least 200 BC. As early as 600 AD, it was used to treat alcoholism. And that’s, that as far as positives go

Kudzu is a vine. Under the right growing conditions, it spreads easily, covering virtually everything that doesn’t move out of its path. Kudzu was introduced in North America in 1876 in the southeastern U.S. to prevent soil erosion. But kudzu spread quickly and overtook farms and buildings, leading some to call to kudzu "the vine that ate the South.”

Let’s not let it eat Matzke Park. Go for the “crown.”

Kudzu spreads by runners that root at the nodes to form new plants and by rhizomes. But for successful long-term control of kudzu, it is not necessary to destroy the underground system, which can be extremely large and deep. It is only necessary to use some method to kill or remove the kudzu root crown and all rooting runners. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the roots. Crowns form from multiple vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea- to basketball-sized.  The older the crowns, the deeper they tend to be found in the ground. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant may grow back.

It is necessary to destroy all removed crown material. Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu unexpectedly spreads and shows up in various locations… like your back yard.