Those wiry stems will twine around anything. As they twine, the circles get tighter and tighter as the vine's stem becomes thicker. I've removed sections that looked just like one of those stretch telephone cords. They won't tackle something very stout, but any slender item is fair game. About seventy-five percent of the garlic mustard I have pulled this year was entwined with honeysuckle. Even after death, the weed remained upright in the iron grip of the vine.
Here, the darker stem is the victim. The honeysuckle is the lighter stem curving around it from left to right. You can see a remnant of the original brownish bark on the vine - it is maturing and beginning to peel off.
As the stems mature, the bark gets flaky and peels off in strips.
You can see the buds breaking on this stem which was cut at the end of October in USDA zone 7.
This is a hardy vine (USDA zones 5b-10), but currently does not withstand colder zones, although there are indications that it is adapting. Within its range, it remains evergreen in the southern parts and partially evergreen in the northern.
It is able to continue growing for more than two months after native plants have gone dormant in the fall, which gives it a distinct advantage.
Not only does it have a long season of growth, it spreads via underground stems as well as above ground stems and seeds from the fruit produced from September through November. Underground growth competes with native tree and plant seedlings, inhibiting their development. Most native wildflowers can't survive in dense honeysuckle mats.
Birds love the berries and deposit the seeds all over the place. Seeds apparently germinate best after passing through a bird gut. young plants are fairly quick to establish and often missed by the gardener during the season. They are easier to see and pull once most of the deciduous plants have lost their leaves. Deer use it as a winter browse, when little else is available.
Once established, this is a hard vine to eradicate because the underground stems will resprout when top growth is removed. I pull the vines rather than using herbicides. I have found that a few years of persistent removal of any bits appearing above soil will deplete and kill vines, but it does take dedicated perseverance. If my garden were sunny, it would
Latest Articles