haven't done it but i do grow the variega one. if you don't want it,i would think that you'd be set if you traced back to the main root mass and dug it up. but there is another thread about this as we speak so others may have better experience than I.
best,
mindy

My sister gave me one of these; she had the variegated one and it threw just a couple of volunteers (plain green) over several years. I think I had it in the ground for one or two seasons before I decided it was too aggressive. I dug it up at least 5 years ago, but I still find it re-sprouting. I don't think mine ever had a chance to set fruit, so it must still be re-growing from bits of root.

My advice would be to spray it with brush-be-gone and then watch carefully for sprouts next year. Alternatively, you could cut it at the base and then cover the remaining main stem with an upturned pot, to keep any new growth from getting sunlight. That trick has been working pretty well for me in my battle with sweet autumn clematis. I put a concrete birdbath top over the pot and just leave it in place more or less indefinitely, until I'm pretty sure the plant is not going to be able to stage a come back.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, Marty, but I have
been doing battle with wild Ampelopsis for years now. . .
and since it's probably already fruiting, the birds are
snatching up the berries (which they LOVE!) and depositing
the seeds for miles around! The vine develops an extensive
root system (much like poison ivy) and then proceeds to run
underground and pop up all over the place. It's pretty vital to try to kill the whole root system, so hand pulling
is just a temporary fix. My best success so far, has been
cutting back several main stems which are close together,
bundling their tips together with a wire, and then dipping those tied ends into a small jar filled with Round-Up and
letting it sit for a week or so. This has actually worked
quite effectively on some stubborn poison ivy, but since
the porcelin berry keeps showing up around the property, I
have to assume the birds are munching on berries somewhere
in my neighborhood that I'm not aware of. . .it's probably
going to be an ongoing battle.

Such a shame, too, because it's a really lovely vine - if it would just behave itself! Earlier in the summmer, I
kept admiring my Viburnum trilobum's lush foliage from afar - until I realized one day that it was being completely smothered by an Ampelopsis on steroids!

Good luck!

Carl

Thanks to all for the suggestions... I'm hoping since I THINK this is the first year (first year I've noticed it for sure!) that I can get it under control. It's growing in very rich, leafy duff so I expect the root system is more extensive than it would appear. I will try a combination of the options you all have proposed (thanks to everyone!) but I expect it will indeed, as Carl predicts, be an ongoing battle. [Sigh]

On the bright side, I've yet to find any Oriental bittersweet on the property, which is amazing considering its presence all around us! ... that, I suspect, is a matter of PURE luck and at some point, my luck will run out on that one, too.

I like to believe Mother Nature has a VERY good reason for these things (as well as for the sawflies currently infesting my red Osiers, the hornworms on the tomatoes, etc. etc.) In fact, I KNOW she does...but there are days when I would REALLY like to have a talk with her, just so we're both on the same page! ;)

Marty,
I don't have anything to add to the great advise offered by everyone but on the bright side it sure is a show stopper of a vine...then again so is the bittersweet that I ignored creeping over from my neighbors for two years and is now totally out of control. Your wise to be dealing with it sooner rather than later. kt

It's curious (and a bit frustrating) that as I become more attuned to what's in my woods/meadow/etc. and have gotten more proactive in trying to ID things, I find 9 times out of 10 that the beautiful whatever-it-is turns out to be not only non-native, but invasive. I start to wonder if there are any native, non-invasives LEFT out in Connecticut!! I've gotten to where, if it's REALLY pretty, I'd just as soon not look it up, because I can pretty much guarantee I'm not going to like what I find out!

Let me attempt to brighten your frame of mind:

My feeling is that Mother Nature really DOES have it all under control (how many millions of years has it been?). . .for example, with any luck, one day you'll find
one of those nasty hornworms on your prized tomatoes and, lo and behold, it has a pack of tiny parasitic wasps glued
to it's backside. . .once these little predators turn up, you'll have no more hornworms that season. Bottom line:
we're the one's who are out of line, not M. Nature. . .
sigh. . .

Appropos this subject, I am HIGHLY recommending a remarkable book (discovered here on GW on someone's book list) titled "Noah's Garden" by Sara Stein. . .it's all
about understanding the complex ecology of our (very
unnatural) gardens, and trying to go native. . .which she
freely acknowledges is tough (given how extreme our gardens have become), but possible in moderation. I found
an inexpensive copy at Amazon.com used books. . .

Carl

Hi Carl,

Yep, we have the parasitic wasps, too ... the first time I found a hornworm thus "decorated" (last summer) I pulled it off in a panic, carried it gingerly into the house and went straight to my computer ... then had to take the bedecked creature BACK out to the garden (cooing apologetically all the way) and tuck it back on the tomato plant where I found it. My question for Ma Nature: could you speed up the process a bit, so I don't lose the top 8 inches of tomato plants BEFORE the wasps work their magic?? ;)

The book sounds great -- will have to look for it at the library or used book store. Thanks! Having a better sense of "her" big picture is definitely wise! :)

The tomato hornworm is the larvae for a large and attractive hawk moth. I'd be excited to have one of these in my garden, and probably give it its own tomato plant! Wasps on the other hand, are deadly enemies of my precious butterfly caterpillars.

As far as the issue of invasive plants goes, I disagree that Ma Nature has it under control. Whereas these plants might be living in balance in their native habitat, when introduced to a non-native habitat, they grow wildly out of control without competition from their natural predators. Invasive species are a very significant threat to native species - 2nd only to habitat destruction. Maybe in another thousand years or three, things will return to balance!

I find 9 times out of 10 that the beautiful whatever-it-is turns out to be not only non-native, but invasive. I start to wonder if there are any native, non-invasives LEFT out in Connecticut!!

I have experienced the same thing in my yard and neighborhood. With some despair, I realized that plant after plant was identified to be a non-native invasive. The understory of the woodlands around here are almost entirely non-native - Honeysuckle, Rosa multiflora, Buckthorn, etc. To find a native shrub is the exception, not the rule.

As for porcelain berry, it is prohibited in MA and classified as "potentially invasive" in CT. I have only had to deal with a few seedlings, which I promptly pull. As for larger specimens of non-natives? I usually cut and poison the stumps.