We cut the boxwood in front of Ed's house WAY back...I posted about it some time ago. Now I'm noticing this vine thing growing up through the bushes....I don't know how well you can see it in the photos...trying to get a pic with enough clarity so you could see was difficult. Hopefully you can give me some idea what I'm dealing with here..... I held this one up, it's not actually growing straight up like that, I just pulled it out from the bush and held it straight so you could see. Is it a weed? An actual plant? Is it going to choke the boxwood if I leave it alone? How come it didn't seem to be there when the boxwood was so completely overgrown? What do I dooooooooo?????
I would trace it back down to the ground and just clip it off at or under ground level. Removal of the thing's roots may seriously damage your boxwood plants.
No it isn't poison ivy. I looked too, but I am not familiar with that plant in the photo, either so I didn't comment a" no comment" comment...
I think Sjoerd's advice is spot on....whatever it is, it doesn't belong there. That is, assuming you want to keep the boxwood hedge.
Thanks all. It's really invasive! I'm going to buy .... I don't know what to call them .... but they're sheets of stuff you lay down on the ground to block the weeds? Gonna have to put that under the boxwood, and then I guess layer mulch on top of it? I need to do something, because since we cut the boxwood way back, the sun is able to get to the ground underneath them now, and all KINDS of weeds and vines and other unrecognizable stuff is growing up, and I just can't keep up with the weeding!!! Wondering, would sheets of black plastic do the same job? Ed has a big roll of it in the garage. Or should we invest in the rolls of stuff I know you can buy at Home Depot?
Black plastic will work. Is it heavy duty plastic? If not, I'd double it and be sure to overlap it good and mulch on top would keep any wind from lifting it. It's not a job I'd like to do, trying to work the plastic around the hedge stems and leaves but I think that would be the only organic way to get rid of it.
Cardboard boxes (opened & flattened) work pretty well too. Just put some mulch of some kind on top to hide them.
2ofUs, yeah, it's the heavy duty kind so it's not a flyaway as what the plastic trash bags are made of. We talked about it some though, and decided to go ahead and get the stuff from Home Depot. For a lot of reasons, it's going to be the better way to go. Cayuga Morning, the cardboard boxes are a great idea! There's another section of the garden that I might use that for. Thanks.
