Highway 70 (aka Kudzu Site)

Every morning on our way to work we pass a nasty mess of kudzu and wisteria hanging off the trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway’s entrance and exit ramp. We are now finally able to do something about it. Once scouting out the area we learned that kudzu and wisteria were not the only invasives taking over the site. Autumn olive, mimosa, privet, honeysuckles, tree of heaven, and bamboo planted by the neighboring subdivision were also in the area. We have only just begun cut-stump treatments on the site and are currently dealing with the added issue of litter left by the homeless who have established campsites throughout the site. There is still plenty of work ahead of us.

UPDATE 7/22/2010
We have been working at the kudzu patch for a couple weeks now and it is looking rather dead. The trees are slowly being saved from the massive vines and the kudzu doesn’t cover everything anymore. It is very rewarding to pass this on the way to work everyday and see that we are making a difference. Hedge trimmers, herbicide, chainsaws and loppers have all been necessary in this project. We continue to cut more vines and save more trees.

UPDATE 8/12/2010
Following many more hours spent since the last post, we can finally say that we are done. For now. Our site seemed to keep expanding but today we mapped our section and can see the final boundaries. We finished by foliar treating what was left of the kudzu along 70 as well as moved back into the woods to cover the wisteria, bittersweet, rose, privet, and honeysuckles with herbicide in the hope that native plants will be able to grow unimpeded by these non-native invasive.

UPDATE 8/30/2010
A few stubborn strands of kudzu were left still clinging to trees in the front section of this site. Our crew had been shown a few new tools, which we used to cut the vines. Our attack was centered on the front section as we utilized hedge trimmers to further clear trees and cut-stump to get more of the vines still choking the trees. We spent two days here and were able to hit some resprouts that we had been seeing with a treatment of herbicide.