Sign of global warming? Next in New England: Cockroaches? Palm rats? Alligators?

Carol

I hadn't heard of kudzu in MA, although I have a vague memory of reading a few years ago about kudzu being seen in CT (or maybe NH?). Not something I want to see here.

Claire

Yikes! My first experience of kudzu was this summer while traveling in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. It was like being an on alien planet, that stuff took over entire hillsides and smothered every tree, crawled over telephone wires, and probably would have crawled over the roads except that you could see brown signs of herbicide use. I'm stunned to hear that it's in New England. Heaven help us.

Katy, I know your Island well as I grew up there. Here in the south kudzu is a rampant thug and your citizens must get together and stop the invasion now or lose your precious Beetlebung trees and unique ecology. This job is probably best handled by your local garden club which I know is very active. Probably should bring the Polly Hill Arboretum people on board, too. They are in the best position to educate the public as to the problem and how to kill it off. If I were there I would encourage Carly Simon (she is a dedicated gardener) to act as a spokesperson for the project. She would have credance with summer owners.

It is going to take sharp eyes looking for it. Can be treated by cutting the vine two inches above the ground and painting the stub with full strength brush killer using a 1" paint brush and wearing rubber gloves. This is best done during the growing season. Garden club members could carry these in their car and hopefully gain permission from landowners to enter a property and treat when kudzu is spotted. If proper education has been done in advance this should not be a problem. This is a situation the Island can get on top of with publicity encouraging citizen cooperation. Go for it!

Has anyone actually seen kudzu with their own eyes in Massachusetts--who knows for sure what it is? Ie, a person with some botanical training?

Ginny,
I first read this news in a column written by respected naturalist in my local paper. I would have posted a link to the article but you need to be a subscriber to access it. When I googled kudzu in ma. I came across the USDA page below. I have always found the Umass site difficult to navigate but I would guess they have some info as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kudzu/USDA

From a google search o where has kudzu vine been found in MA, the following links.

Found in Marblehead in 2006

http://www.marbleheadconservancy.org/pdfs/kudzu_powerpoint.pdf

on Boston Harbor Island

http://www.marbleheadconservancy.org/pdfs/kudzu_powerpoint.pdf

in Holyoke

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=has+kudzu+vine+been+found+in+ma&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Fran

NO!! I am going to have to make sure I am watching for it around here. They show a root that's gotta be a foot thick....

Here is a link that might be useful: powerpoint on Kudzu in MA

I can confirm that Kudzu is growing on the Cape. I helped a friend hack down what seemed like miles and miles of it that was growing up trees and shrubs in his mother's large backyard in Osterville (very close to the Mahoney's there.)

We knew it would just come back, but we gave it a good shot anyway, and trucked away many, many loads of the stuff.

Then my friend's mother told me to help myself to some of her Hostas, Sib Iris, and other assorted perennials. I politely declined, lest I get a bit of Kudzu root in the soil. When I got home to RI, I quickly showered and put my clothes, gloves, and sneakers right in the washer, just to be safe!

Too bad someone couldn't grow it as an energy source. It is certainly a renewable resource! I remember reading about someone in the South who was growing it to make compost. I remember thinking what a bad idea that was. I am sure it has swallowed him up by now!

It just seems so odd that the New England Wildflower Society and other environmental organizations of which I am a member have not mentioned this--unless it whizzed right by me, always a possibility. These groups, whose publications I get and websites I visit, are usually the first to sound the warning.

I'll have to go check because you people are scaring me. I have driven many miles in the South and kudzu is like something out of a sci-fi movie. Reminds me in fact of an old Doctor Who episode.

Sorry to say Ginny that you must have missed it there are a number of NEWFS/Kudzu hits when you google it including the video linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: New England Wildflower Society Identifying Kudzu in Needham

I did go to the NEWFS website right after I posted above. There were five kudzu references. Of those, two were general references and not specific sightings. All three specific sightings were the same location in Needham.

I'm not denying the possibility of a wider problem but I think a state-wide survey by a reputable scientific/botanical organization is needed. And lots of publicity to plant-knowledgeable people in garden and conservation groups. And monitoring confirmed sightings such as the one in Needham. How do low temperatures affect it? Can it adapt to such temperatures? Snow?

I'm in school for botany at Umaine right now, but back home in Mass I worked in an industrial park, and kudzu was a regular occurrence in the wetlandish retention ponds all around.

=( sorry haha

Where in Mass was this industrial park?

Claire

Hello, everyone. As far as I can tell, this horse has already bolted from the barn. I am a Miamian who spent 18 years in Boston and is headed back there, soon.

As far as I can tell, kudzu has been growing in Massachusetts since at least 2004 or 2005. It's like the zombie of the plant world. It thrives on quietude and secrecy and stealth. It grows a foot per day by runners, rhizomes, and also undisturbed seeds. This is Frankenweed.

So, now you have a monster weed with a preference for finding quiet corners to grow frankenroots...fertile little patches of land next to highways...sunny little spots in public parks and forests...what do you do? I have no idea. We take it for granted around here (in Miami), as a side-of-the-highway plant. I have never seen it in anyone's garden, and I would never allow it in mine. It's not as invasive as my neighbor's dandelions.

Like any other weed, kudzo spreads to where it's allowed to spread, though its taproot can kick your taproot's butt. It's a hardy legume, really. I believe the only way to kill it is to track and destroy its whole root system, which, depending on the age of the plant, might take some doing. Or it might take 10 minutes.

I believe vigilance and swift destruction of identified vines would go a long way in preventing wide-spread growth, but I am also a little surprised that its existence up there is still a surprise.

I wish you luck. And, if it makes you feel any better, at least we can't also share our Frankensnakes with you. Yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frankensnakes

Hello,
I would be interested if it survives after this cold snowy New England winter.
dearyvette, hasn't anyone developed something that works to kill the root system? Scary thing.
Susan in CT