I Bought My Beautiful Log Cabin Type House About Seven…
Yolaine Asked
I bought my beautiful log cabin type house about seven years ago, and with it came trumpet vines planted at every cedar post positioned down off my front porch, which is about 80′ across. I have tried numerous times to kill these trailing plants before they take over my entire house, but to no avail. I have dug and pulled and used brush killer, everything I can think of, but I believe the new shoots are numerous under my porch. What can I do?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Yolaine in Kentucky: Trumpet vines can be very invasive and I sympathize with your frustration in trying to eliminate these vines from your property. As you have found, they are difficult to control. Once established they become very aggressive and produce suckers. Some chemicals are not very effective in terms of control. I am not sure what you have tried in the past but if the product you used had glyphosate as its main ingredient, you might try products with the main active ingredient being either 2,4-D or triclopyr; even a combination of triclopyr and glyphosate would be more effective than glyphosate alone. Applying any of these products this time of year is not worth the effort. You want to spray while the vine is actively growing so the chemicals can be moved throughout the tissue of the plant and eventually to the root system. Before using a spray you will want to remove as much of the vine as possible and then use a paint brush and paint the tips of the remaining vine. This will prevent the chemicals from damaging any nearby plant material that you do not want to get rid of. Ideally, we want to remove the actual root system; otherwise you will be tackling the same problem year after year. Hopefully in your situation you have access under your porch to get to the vine. It may be worth having a reliable landscape company come out and dig up the vines for you and apply a chemical application to the suckers. I hope this is helpful.
