Lynnfield Offers Tips To Free Trees From Invasive Vines

LYNNFIELD, MA — Lynnfield is offering some tips to residents with trees on their property to protect them from invasive vine species.

Early in the Fall, Oriental Bittersweet vine leaves turn bright yellow and Virginia Creeper vine leaves turn bright red making them easy to spot against trees and shrubs that are still green. The simplest way to stop their growth is to:

1. Cut the vines close to where they sprout from the ground
2. Leave the detached vines in the trees to die and dry out over the winter
3. In Spring, pull the vines from the trees and discard or place in your compost piles

Introduced from Asia in the 1800’s, Bittersweet grows rapidly and with a twining nature, can easily climb trees up to 90 feet tall. As the plant grows in diameter, it literally chokes its host. Between its girdling growth habit and sheer weight, whole canopies of a forest can tumble down during the growing season or an ice storm. Virginia Creeper does not entwine or girdle trees like Bittersweet, but as it creeps it ruthlessly crowds out other plants by stealing their sunlight, water, and nutrient.

Since both vines can be difficult to completely eradicate by digging, and you may not wish to use harmful chemicals, cutting the vines close to the ground and leaving the detached portions in place to die and dry out is a fairly easy and effective maintenance measure.