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Anyone else have this vine....clingy tendrils -- and WICKED thorns. They aren't long but they hurt and will catch on the slightest thing. It's a nasty bugger alright. I haven't found a glove yet it wont go through.
My English Ivy I can pull out of the ground...but not this cat briar/greenbriar. It's growing among my ivy, periwinkle, and even gets up some of my dogwoods.
I have a steep brush/wooded hillside -- and I know vines are good for helping with erosion -- but I can't imagine anyone would plant THIS. It's serious business for sure.
About once a year I get after it with brush and vine killer...but have to be careful because I don't want to kill the ivy and the trees that are there.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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Yes but its not real aggressive any more because it's becoming heavily shaded. Control is once a year in early summer or late fall with a trimmer along areas where people walk. Haven't needed any herbicide not that it would be real effective. (It wouldn't) Just cut it or hire someone to do it. Plant more trees.
If we are talking about the same vine, in Arkansas we call them "saw briars", and in archeology we call them "wait-a-minute-vine" because we can be walking through the woods and hang our toe on one, or one grabs our pants leg, and I can almost hear it say "wait a minute" . We also have one that is less common that is black and looks dead, but isn't, and it's stick is very painful and lasts for a while. Often when I come home from scouting for archeology sites I look like I have been in a cat fight because my arms and legs are all scratched up and my clothes bloody. It's just another occupational hazard.
I don't think herbicide will be effective because they have a large hard root ball that can be as deep as two feet below the surface. We often find them when we are digging deep archeology test units. I suspect the only way to eradicate them is to dig up the root ball which may not be feasible in most cases.
That stuff is wicked nasty (and painful) and very, very hard to eradicate! It can be very aggressive and bring down large shrubs and small trees so I would keep cutting and digging it out as you have been. Doubled up heavy duty gloves seem to stop most of the thorns and cutting them off with pruners before grabbing helps keep the injury level down. The roots are very strong and go deep and seem endless.
ArkansasSlim I love your 'wait a minute' story. I'd be the one tripping over that out in the wilds.
It's me the OP bumping up this thread...hoping for some more eradication ideas....or just some commiseration
Any new ideas for getting rid of cat briar (smilax vine) ...that's growing in my english ivy, and up my rose of sharon trees (shrub?).
I just came in from cutting some and pulling it (no where near all of it) out of just some of the trees (in 85 degree weather no less. What can I say..i saw it and I just had to cut it out)
Between the tendrils, the thorns, and the way it really entangles itself -- and can catch on clothing and gloves....this is some wicked $#!^@. AND....it's on a hillside with a 65 degree slope.
Instead of mulching I think my landscaper may get digging this $#!^@ up as his late/summer early fall job this year....IF he'll take the job! I read that the roots are like rhizomes or tubers and I want it GONE so if he has to dig and pull and follow it until its out.....that's what I want. Wonder how much he'll charge me for that....yikes. because that's all work that has to be done by hand....no power tools get in and out in 20 minutes for that job.
I've had him cut it down before and it's just spread!
Nope. I know that's no help at all, but it's all I've got. I go out every week and clip it. I dig down a few inches or so and cut. It doesn't seem to matter how often I do it, there's always more. It's not spreading, though. Probably because I keep clipping it. I'd like to think that it's because I say nasty things to it before I amputate.
I have it everywhere and I agree it's a terrible vine. The tubers underground can be massive, and provide lots of energy to the vines. The only thing you can do is dig up the tubers or keep cutting the vine over and over until it exhausts itself. The problem is when the tubers get intertwined with tree roots, they're impossible to dig.
When I was living in Atlanta and had a yard to care for, here's what I did, which I admit up front was effective so long as I kept it up....
When you find a long section of the plant, don't cut it. Instead, stretch it out on some newspaper, plastic, or the soil if there are no desirable plants nearby. Spray the heck out of it with Round-up and leave it there to die. Repeat if it doesn't die 100%. After it is dead, you can cut off the long piece. For the little short sections which are coming up where you cut it down, spray them with roundup every time you see them. You can get quite good at getting the spray head right down there close and spraying only the stuff you want to kill.
If you keep it up, you should see a general decline in the numbers of the plants over a couple of years. But you can never let your guard down. It will keep coming back so long as there is any living root bits in the ground. They have a tuber type root.
A previous poster said it wouldn't grow in the shade but that has not been my experience. I pulled some out of a very tall pine that was in full deep shade. The vines were so strong we could swing from them.
But here's something you might not know....it's edible!!!
I have Greenbrier on my property coming from the adjoining woods. It sends new shoots that grow straight up out of the ground. They climb trees and tangle themselves in the branches. I have found cutting it at ground level is the best thing to do. No amount of brush killer will destroy the roots. It sucks and it is nasty. I have it combined with poison ivy and honeysuckle and between the 3, they are all invasive and require constant attention to prevent them from getting out of hand.
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. We also have one that is less common that is black and looks dead, but isn't, and it's stick is very painful and lasts for a while. Often when I come home from scouting for archeology sites I look like I have been in a cat fight because my arms and legs are all scratched up and my clothes bloody. It's just another occupational hazard.
