Oh my! I declare war in the garden!! There are grape vines climbing on bushes and up a tree in MY beautiful space! They are well over 12 feet long!! They are not considered invasives but they sure are aggressive. Just last week they were pretty and not invading at all.  I pull hard on each one and soon they come crashing down as a bunch. 

As I walk along my familiar place of peace, I see two kinds of supple green tendrils vining and wrapping the lilac bushes, raspberry stalks and, well, climbing EVERYTHING really.  They have to be pulled and snapped from their base, I cannot get the root.  Nasty life suckers arise from woody roots growing in a massive willy nilly grid underground that I cannot get to for the most part.  These unwelcome volunteers come up everywhere wrapping around and choking tree and bush specimens I have lovingly planted intentionally for a private arboretum of sorts.

Invasives span the entire width and breadth of “the back five”. So for one hundred yards, five to fifteen feet deep, I have eager beavers snaking the life out of desirable plantings. I’ve got this!!!!! Two hours later I have snapped, temporarily, the visible life, of about 200 of the 500 out there. More will be popping up all of these long, lazy (hardly!) days of summer months.

First Battle with Invasives during the War in the Garden

Euonymus is another undesirable, overachieving, life-sucking flora.  We had our first war in the garden with this enemy. It was all out combat at our abode when I sent hubby and son with chainsaw to cut the monster stems that had grown for years attached to our stately, very old, very huge trees. “Honey those vines are going to choke and topple our beautiful trees” I cried. He agreed and went to battle.  Constant watch to pull down climbers before they become massive is now my mission. How did we not see that happening right in our own back yard? My retirement and time to walk around a bit is what opened my eyes. 

This same vine is notorious for holding ground, impossible to pull, with clumped roots seemingly on steroids, becoming almost limb like. Much of it, I have covered by hand and forkful from a major truckload of wood chips dumped on my driveway. Now when the bright green new leaves poke through it is easier to pull as the soil has become conditioned, loose, and forest like.  That is progress, however the euonymus is growing tall as well … YIKES. …. creating a border of shrubby vine between the neighbors and our property. Yes it spans the entire back five and casts seeds every year. I hedge and cry and prune and cry and cut it while I cry to keep it trimmed back. Have I mentioned my feeling of overwhelm, and that I cry? 

Another area where I have made some progress is eliminating most of the honeysuckle bushes. Many have been cut down, although they need to be cut to the ground and covered with more wood chips as they eagerly grow new limbs rapidly even from six inch stick stubs. Some have been left to provide privacy but will be cut down as soon as native plantings fill in.

The weeds are aggressive natives. There is a difference between aggressive and invasive. Correctly classifying plants as aggressive, which is not as bad as invasive, to me is moot! I hate the aggressive ones as much as the invasive because quite frankly the aggressive ones are friggin’ invasive as far as this gardner experience goes.

The Big Why

I do wonder why I am trying to tame and reclaim the back five and another natural area along the side yard. They are not “gardens”. Every time I’m excited about progress, there is growth and more work. I’m not ready to give up. What began as a chainsaw rescue of beautiful trees has become an ongoing quest as my research and prayer and learning developed and fleshed out my mission. This is my land. My little corner of God’s wonderful world. This is what I can do. I can plant more trees to help the environment. I can fight the fight to clear the land of invasives to leave more space for native plants and trees to bring balance to the ecosystem in my corner. Horticulturalists, botanists, and gardeners everywhere are doing their part to work at eliminating non-native, invasive plants. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done!”

In seven other gardens I have several super aggressive plants that were oops, happily planted and sadly battled for years now. I would like them eliminated 100%. Beware Lily of the Valley, chameleon plant and Bouncingbet! Then there are the other gardens, besides the seven, with plants like Hellebores and daylilies. These are not not invasive but super aggressive, and spreading out of control. However these I do love and do not want to eliminate completely. I just have to pull and cut to keep them in check.  Talk about getting my exercise!

As I have progress and fight the good fight I do benefit. Fresh air, accomplishment, beauty, nature, time with God, gratitude for this land, yoga like stretches, hard work, planning, paying attention, persistence, and ingenuity are tried again and again. At some point, probably in my 80’s, I will have to let the back five and many of the gardens go. I wonder if someone else will come along and care for this land.  Hopefully my progress will be sufficient to overcome chaos and leave this land a bit more under control, in balance, and filled with beautiful life.

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