A Beautiful Pest

Wisteria.  It's very invasive, spreading everywhere, and it climbs trees, covering them up (though maybe not as thoroughly as kudzu) and eventually choking them.  I have some wisteria encroaching from one property line, and I've been dealing with it for a few years--not very effectively.

This year I have at least made some progress on it.  This is the time of year when the leaves on trees are just coming out, but the wisteria is in bloom, making it easy to see.  More importantly, the vines snaking up trees are easy to see, too, because there isn't much undergrowth yet.

I noticed a tightly-wrapped pine with a couple of wisteria vines going up.  When I cut them--it was easy, even though they were thick; the wood isn't very substantial--I saw these marks in the bark.  This is one reason it's so noxious.  It wraps itself tightly around trees, then as the vines grow in diameter, it chokes off the cambium layer, like a slow-motion python. Cutting the vine relieves the pressure.

I know it'll just send out sprouts from the vine stump at ground level, but I have at least knocked it back a few years.  One of the vines I cut (not on the tree shown) was as big around as my wrist.  Even that thick, I was able to sever it with some loppers (though not in one bite).

All that being said, the flowers are nice.  For a brief time, a couple of weeks at most, they're attractive and fragrant.  Some people to this day buy the stuff as an ornamental, and if tightly controlled (which is challenging), it can be a good small tree for that.  The downsides are too great, however.  I went ahead and severed every large stem I could find.  The flowers will wilt a little faster than normal this year, but that's fine.