What would you do?

[DinaJean]

We cleared this area along the driveway last year, it was Soooooo overgrown from neglect. The hillside was covered by sweetgums, little pines, Wisteria, wisteria, wisteria, vinca, honeysuckle, saw briar, I could go on and on.....I went at the wisteria again recently and cleared the hill off pretty good, but wisteria is coming back, lots of vinca, and lots of wild violet, I think. Here is a before picture. And I will post an after picture. I am just at a loss as to what to do with the hillside. I was going to mulch, decided nah. Then I thought groundcover. Dont know if I want to. Then I am thinking grass. There is a BIG pecan knuckle way out in the middle that I dont want to hurt. And it will be hard to dig deep because of all the vines and rocks. So, any sugestions would be great.

BEFORE:



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AFTER:

[Newt]

How pretty.* I think I'd go with a groundcover.* If you don't plant anything, mother nature will fill it up with plants of her choice.* :shock:* Think something native. I'll wait to see what the next picture looks like.

Newt

[DinaJean]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have vinca all over the edge of the woods, thick, thick, maybe I will transplant some to help it fill in quicker.* Can I transplant vinca anytime?

Also, do you think a vine killer would help if I sprayed it on each sucker of wisteria that comes up? I have axed and chopped all the vines throughout there that I could, but it keep throwing suckers up all over.* And I also did get the "MAMA Vine" It was about the size of a basketball with a zillion arms about 6 feet long...it was crazy!*

[DinaJean]

I found the answer to my question OH MIGHTY OMNIPOTENT ONE...

See quote from UBC Botanical Garden .org!!!!!!!!!!

"Here is how I've learned you can get rid of it. Now, up until this point I had NEVER used herbicides or pesticides in the garden. Here's what I did and you can do to get rid of it. Put about an inch of Round Up Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate (you could also use Brush B Gone) in a clear plastic container with a tight fitting lid like you might get at the deli with potato salad. Cut a slit in the lid and insert the tips of the vine in the solution when in active growth (has leaves on it and the leaves need to be in the solution). Leave the vines in the solution for 48 hours and then cut the vines near the lid. To remove the vine from the lid, be sure and take the container to a safe place so that no solution splashes on anything precious. You can reuse the solution until it is all absorbed. Everytime I find a new sprout I do this same procedure. So far there have been no sprouts from areas that were treated this way.

Good luck!
Newt

__________________
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. "
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BTW, Newt - Love your signature quote on there!!!
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Is this still what you suggest??
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The wisteria is CRAZY....I thought I would pull vines around the fence...by the way anyone who wants to save money by not going to a gym, come and pull vines for 2 hours!!!! WHEWWWWW..... So I started at the fence and two hours later, sore back later, I was three miles away pulling vines.....No wonder I never get anything done!!!!

[Newt]

I showed my hubby the pictures and he said he likes the 'before' better.* :?* Vinca is considered an invasive, which you probably have already figured out from the way it's invading your woodlands.* It chokes out the native plants and there's less for wildlife to eat.* I'd remove it all as often as possible.* Consider spraying it with vinegar but be careful to spray it just on the vinca under the trees as the vinegar can harm your tree roots.

Here's a list of South Carolina invasives.* Both vincas are listed.* The list is alphabetical using scientific names.
http://www.invasive.org/listview.cfm?list=29

So do you want to plant a groundcover or maybe some small native shrubs and groundcover?* I like Virginia sweetspire for that spot to line the fence.* Some of the named cultivars stay small enough to show off your fence and are a great butterfly food.* They're fragrant with gorgeous fall color, at least Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' is.* I grow this one in my garden and love it.* It looks great with it's fall colors with the cream colored stucco wall behind it.
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/p....asp?code=D590

Here's a list of native plants for South Carolina you might want to hold on to.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rdsduse/sc.htm

Are those crape myrtles I see in the background?* Gosh, someone really butchered them.* :(*
http://webs.lanset.com/pathline/crepe%20murder.htm
http://dallas.tamu.edu/woody/cmyrtle/pruning.html

As to the wisteria, if you were to dig down you would find a root system that's about as thick as your wrist and 40' or more from the parent plant. Here's what you can do to get rid of it.* I'd suggest you let a few of the vines grow to about 2' or 3' long and then use this technique.

Put about an inch of horticultural vinegar or Round Up Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate (you could also use Brush B Gone) in a clear plastic container with a tight fitting lid like you might get at the deli with potato salad. Cut a slit in the lid and insert the tips of the vine in the solution when in active growth (has leaves on it and the leaves need to be in the solution). Leave the vines in the solution for 48 hours and then cut the vines near the lid. To remove the vine from the lid, be sure and take the container to a safe place so that no solution splashes on anything precious. You can reuse the solution until it is all absorbed. Everytime I find a new sprout I do this same procedure. So far there have been no sprouts from areas that were treated this way.

Newt

[Newt]

When I posted my last answer I didn't notice you had found the info.* What a blast!**:shock:* Yes, that is what I'd recommend.* You could also use horticultural vinegar.

I thought I had a signature on here too.* I'll have to check into that.* I can never remember which forums you can have a signature on.* :?* There's a cute true story that goes with it.*

Newt

I just checked and couldn't find a place to add a signature.* Oh well.* There's another I use for my animal rescue forums:

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the and the blind can see”. Mark Twain

Newt

[DinaJean]

Do tell me the cute true story!

[Newt]

I had been away from home for 4 months one fall and couldn't tend to my garden. The following spring I was weeding the garden one afternoon and noticed how easily this large patch of weeds was coming out of the ground.* After I had about half of it pulled out I found a plant label I had made but I couldn't read the entire thing.* All I could make out was a couple of letters and even those were blurry.* Then I remembered that I had planted some giant blue lobelia in that area two springs before.* They had been given to me by a friend who was no longer in my life and I wouldn't have seen them bloom since I had been away.*

I ran in the house to check on the computer and see what the leaves looked like.* Since so many of my kids live far away, I always check my e-mail when I get on.* Sure enough my son had sent me something.* It was a bunch of jokes and sayings and that was in it.* Then I googled and sure enough, I had been pulling out the lobelia!* So I decided that would be my signature on gardening forums.

True story.* :)*
Newt

[DinaJean]

Cute story.

I sure hope you were able to save some of it!

I use mini-blinds for labels and was told that pencil would last a pretty long time.*I also have hand-drawn maps I keep in a notebook of everything I plant. Of course, I am just beginning, so it is easy...that may become a monster some day.

[Newt]

I too have tried the mini blind route, permanent marker (that's what the lobelia one was) and several other methods.* The only markers that seem to be permanent are the copper ones or other metals that you etch.* I also used to have a 'map' and would keep forgetting to change it as I moved things around.* :(*

Newt