Russian Vine

Just bought one, are they really that bad?

 

Depends on where you want to plant it; if you have a big space that needs covering then it wil do the job. But the neighbours at the bottom of garden have one that grows through and over our hawthorn hedge, if left alone it would simply drown it out, so I find myself cutting back its new growth every week to keep it in check, if I didn't I have no doubt it would be half way acoss our patch in less than a year...

 

Yes

 

Worse!

 

A real thug

Dave

 

I fought a war against one for 5 years. Once established, it will grow back almost as fast as you can cut it. If you go on holiday in the summer one year, you'll come back and find that it has tangled around all your trees and shrubs and invaded your borders.

I took a pick axe to the root stump on my one in the end. It killed it off from there, but I still saw is siblings growing through a tree next door but one.

You'll probably be alright for two or three years until it gets established. Keep it in a large container to confine its roots, and NEVER let the vines come into contact with the ground or it will just lay down new roots and then its away.

 

I bought one many years ago to provide screening at the bottom of my garden. What a mistake. It invades everything, and the only way to get it out of the trees and shrubs is to physically pull it out with a rake. The stock is too big and gnarled to cut down and it has self propagated everywhere. I had hoped the hard winter would kill it off like it did with so many of my shrubs, but no such luck.

 

Treat as bindweed, with several doses of roundup. Remove as many of the tangled vines as can first though, as they will root anywhere they find moisture (and not necessarily just in soil).

Rip as much out as you can, then repeatedly spray the rest. That's how I killed mine off at the last house, but unfortunately not before it invaded the tree next door but one.