A thorn in your side...how to control invasive vines.

Invasive vines really are a thorn in your side when dealing with these thorny vines that are almost impossible to eliminate.  Unfortunately, there is no shortage of invasive vines in Texas that can consume your landscape if not controlled.

One of the more common is the Greenbrier Vine.  The plant will start out as a small vine with heart shaped leaves but if not treated it will pop up in the middle of your shrubs and twine itself up your trees.  Within a short time, they will develop an extensive tuber system.  It then becomes difficult if not impossible to control this weed with a herbicide. 

If you can catch it as a seedling, you should either pull it away or spray it with a herbicide.  If you can untangle the vine from your good plant (wearing gloves - the thorns hurt!), you can carefully spread it out on a piece of landscape fabric or a tarp while keeping the stem intact.  You can spray it with the herbicide glyphosate and after two days, cut it off at ground level.   

However, if you have multiple plants in the same area, it is likely that the Greenbrier has developed its tuber which will continue to produce more plants even as you kill the others.  The first option is to dig up the tuber.  To do so, start pulling at the base of the weeds and see if you can find the root, dig it up and remove it.  This is harder then it sounds since it often difficult to find the location of the tuber.

The second option is to cut off the vine at the ground level and immediately paint the stem with the herbicide glyphosate. 

The plant is likely to regrow and the key is to catch it early and treat it with the herbicide.  These herbicide methods will also work with vines such as Poison Ivy and the Virginia Creeper.