Bad weeds. You will need a machete (sp), limb saw, loppers...at least two of the aformentioned, brush killer (not round-up) concentrate, paint brush. If there is no vegetation that is desirable under the honeysuckle do this first otherwise skip to step two. Please note that I usually hate using chemicals and you can cut back all the vines and dig the root structures up by hand if you are organic. But if you want fast results-
1) after at least three days warm weather with no rain; the drier the better, broad spectrum sray the honeysuckle with the strongest concentration mix the label allows. Give it a week. The dieback should be easy to reomove or at least follow to the root.

PLEASE USE DEFOLLIATES CAREFULLY. THEY HAVE A PURPOSE BUT CAN DE DETRIMENTAL TO THE ENVIRONMENT IF NOT HANDLED PROPERLY. EVERYONE!

2) Follow vines back to the root and cut 3-5 inches above the ground. (however you can) (Wear Gloves!! and a long sleeved shirt glasses and mask. This stuff is very quickly absorbed through the skin and mucus membranes) Paint with your paintbrush the stumps if they are hollow inside and out. Try not to get much in the dirt. DO NOT POUR! PAINT CAREFULLY!

3) Test for doneness/death once a month until the roots can be removed with a little sweat by hand. If new growth appears, repaint.

4) I would wait at least one full growing season to replant.

This has worked for me with English, Poison Ivies, honeysuckle, blackberry etc. These are strong chemicals for you and the environment Please be carefull. People who are heavy handed with chemicals, please let somebody else do this for or with you. Defolliating agents can stay in the ground for years depending on strength and type.

Good Luck!! and Happy Gardening!

G'Day!
- Oh, the evil honeysuckle! i have a non-flowering woodbine variety that swarms a raspberry patch underplantred with ivy (not by me - inherited) and liriope - imagine trying to trace the honeysuckly vines back to their roots in that mass of thorn and vine! i WISH i could use a noxious chemical to majically erradicate the honeysuckly, but don't imagine i could do so without harming the good plants too.
- Best of luck!
-vlad

Thanks Swifty, I have already started chopping with the long handled pruners and stacking for burning. It is a daunting task. I don't think I'd ever live long enough to dig all of this up. In some places I can use brush killer but not all. Theye are some nice size pines in some areas and other places, I can't tell what is under the mess.
I think I prefer the idea of cutting it as far as possible and just using weed killer on the "remains". Carrying arms full of the rteated/dead weeds does not sound safe. Thanks for reminding me about that.
Can I just ask at "Southern States" for "Brush killer"?
Vlad, I think I have a situation similar to yours, though I don't think there is anything quite as useful under mine. I just don't know what is under all of the vines that has managed to survive.

You could cover the honeysuckle with black plastic. it will take a couple of weeks to kill it, but it will work. It will kill everything under the tarp, but it won't nuke the area. Personally, I would take the roundup approach. I had a similar situation with multiflora rose. I used roundup and planted things in the area a month later and it appears the roundup didn't cause any lingering damage.

Though my story is about getting rid of trumpet vine - campsis radicans, you can use this same technique for other invasive vines like the non-native honeysuckles and porcelain berry.

When I moved into this house 16 years ago as a renter, I inherited a trumpet vine - campsis radicans. I have learned that it was the last plant to leaf out in the spring and the first to lose it's leaves in the fall. Here's my horror story and what I've learned about this vine. Over time the vine began to bloom and pop up everywhere in the yard. I would pull the sprouts only to find more year after year. When it pops up in the lawn it can just be mowed. After 13 years we purchased the house and had to cut down 5 trees and regrade the land due to overplanting and flooding. When we dug up the stumps from the trees and regraded we discovered roots of the vine 3' to 4' deep in the soil, up to 30' from the parent plant and as large around as my wrist! We dug and dug and, well you get the point. A year later we still had sprouts coming up from bits of roots that we'd missed.

Here is how I've learned you can get rid of it. Now, up until this point I had NEVER used herbicides or pesticides in the garden. Here's what I did and you can do to get rid of it. Put about an inch of Round Up Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate in a clear plastic container with a tight fitting lid like you might get at the deli with potato salad. Cut a slit in the lid and insert the tips of the vine in the solution when in active growth. Leave the vines in the solution for 48 hours and then cut the vines near the lid. To remove the vine from the lid, be sure and take the container to a safe place so that no solution splashes on anything precious. You can reuse the solution until it is all absorbed. Everytime I find a new sprout I do this same procedure. So far there have been no sprouts from areas that were treated this way.

Newt

Thanks Newt. I get the creeps when someone asks for "trumpet vine" seeds on the seed exchange. I'd almost as soon send honeysuckle.LOL
Ok, round up it will be if it ever gets so I can get outside and back to work.