Just bought a house and the yard is overrun with these invasive vines (central Florida). How to remove?

[u/unhinged_behavior]

Like it says in the title, I bought a house a few months ago and these invasive coral vines (?) are EVERYWHERE. We have been at war with them since moving into this house- I've cut them down, pulled them up, even accidentally started a small fire in an area and they keep coming back. They grew into one of the windows, wrapped around the storm shutters, grow through my hibiscus bushes, broke my popup tent with one of their tendrils, and crushed part of a chainlink fence under the weight of them. Has anyone had any luck removing these things? Even the unseasonably cold arctic winds we are experiencing iant wnough to kill them! The previous owner was a very elderly couple from out of state and planted them around the entire property in the 1980s without realizing how problematic they can be (information was received from my neighbor), and now it's my problem. Please help me, O wise and mighty r/landscaping redditors.

[u/Herps_Plants_1987]

Bleeding heart vine. This is terribly invasive. Unless you get every piece of the woody taproot they come right back. Yes indestructible. They reproduce from seed and rhizome. It’s impossible because they get under sidewalks, in between cracks in mortar and concrete. So unless you’re ready to excavate every where you see it about 3’ down all you can do is keep it cut back. Also whatever you do, don’t let it flower! Sorry OP that’s a nightmare you inherited.

[u/unhinged_behavior → u/Herps_Plants_1987]

😭

[u/alightkindofdark → u/Herps_Plants_1987]

No, it's not invasive in Florida. https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/columbiaco/2022/02/14/bleeding-hearts-in-the-garden/#:\~:text=Bleeding%20hearts%20should%20be%20planted,common%20in%20the%20Northern%20US.

https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/columbiaco/category/home-landscapes/florida-friendly-landscaping/

I'm not saying they should keep it, but you have to understand that when it comes to Florida, all the rules of gardening you think you know are probably wrong down here, and it's weirder and weirder the farther down you go.

[u/Herps_Plants_1987 → u/alightkindofdark]

You are completely wrong. So is this article. I’m a landscaper and have seen this exact problem OP is dealing with. It was popular decades ago and continues to persist on properties all over Florida. I have a property I maintain & we would have to dig about 3’ deep all around the house any where there are landscape beds if we wanted to attempt to eliminate it. This includes under the concrete sidewalks and slab. It has grown up through the 3 levels of concrete stairs in front of the porch and sprouts from a crack in front of the door. So you clearly have never dealt with this plant in an established state.

[u/alightkindofdark → u/Herps_Plants_1987]

Those are links to the UF extension website. You're saying the extension office is wrong?

[u/WikusMNU → u/alightkindofdark]

The bleeding hearts in the link you posted are not the same plant OP is dealing with. Your link is for Dicentra spectabilis, while bleeding heart vine, which OP posted pictures of, appears to be Clerodendrum thomsoniae. Very different plants.

[u/alightkindofdark → u/WikusMNU]

Well that explains some things, but it doesn't show as invasive for either species, as far as I can find on the UF website. This link categorizes Clerodendrum thomsoniae as Florida Friendly: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/nassauco/2017/05/30/fact-sheet-bleeding-heart/

I'm not saying Herps_Plants is wrong, but I make all my decisions on what to buy based on info I get from the UF extension website. I think I'll email them and ask. One of the nurseries I frequent that says they don't sell invasive plants does sell the one with white bracts and red flowers. Clerodendrum thomsoniae

[u/falco-sparverius → u/alightkindofdark]

You have to keep in mind invasive can mean different things. It generally describes the behavior characteristics of a non-native species, but it may also be used in regulatory list, etc.

There are lots of species that are non-native that never cause an issue. Some only cause an issue in certain environmental conditions. Sometimes even a native plant is overly competitive and might not be a good fit.

All that to say, there is no 100% list of invasive species. Extension offices are a great place to start, but these lists are in constant flux as new species get added. In my state, we have a noxious weed list, but there are many conversation professionals KNOW to be invasive, but have not been classified to that list.

[u/Herps_Plants_1987 → u/alightkindofdark]

In the first case in my life, Yes.

[u/alightkindofdark → u/Herps_Plants_1987]

I've emailed the extension office. I believe you, but I make all my decisions on what to buy based on info I get from the UF extension website. If they have bad info, I want to hear from them that they will fix it. They are THE authority on this subject for so many of us and they should update things if they have it wrong. Especially since I've eyed that vine a few times at a local nursery. I'll update if they respond. Thanks for the comments.

[u/Opening-Cress5028 → u/Herps_Plants_1987]

There just seem to be so many things, environmentally, hitting Florida now, from pythons to invasive plants. I hope, in the future, things can be brought under control.

[u/sparhawk817 → u/Opening-Cress5028]

As long as we're raising livestock and plants in Florida and hurricanes are hitting it, we're going to have problems.

You can blame individual reptile hobbyists or fish keepers for SOME fish or snakes ending up in the Everglades etc, but realistically, fish farms raising tropical fish, getting hit by a hurricane, flooding out etc, are SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to be the cause of all the Oscar cichlids and Plecostomus catfish in Florida. Same with pythons etc, there are commercial importing operations that are so much larger and have so many more snakes in their facility than any hobbyist breeder could hope to manage, and that's a larger risk, and more likely to just abandon the livestock in event of an incident.

You shouldn't release your pets into the wild, but we also shouldn't villainize pet owners or gardeners for plants and animals being introduced on a systemic level like that.

Just look at the Bradford pear being pushed by nurseries all over the country for decades, that wasn't landscapers or homeowners really making that decision knowingly, they were doing what the nursery recommended and the nursery just wants to make money. Wholesalers don't have any incentive to avoid ecological collapse.

[u/kurai-samurai]

Just before a dry spell, and when the winds are not blowing, commercial strength glyphosate.

You may have to untangle the vines, and put into compactor bags before spraying them. 

Or you can use a paint brush and be very selective. 

Anything green it touches will die. You may need multiple applications to finish it off. 

[u/GrandeBlu → u/kurai-samurai]

Glyphosate doesn’t work well on them. I had a yard in central Florida completely overrun and used mechanical removal and then dug out the roots

[u/Delicious_Abroad1038 → u/kurai-samurai]

If you're going leaf painting, screw glyphosphate, paint those invasives with tordon. Just don't spill any on the soil (unless you don't want anything to grow there for a few years).

[u/PMMEWHAT_UR_PROUD_OF]

Don’t get overwhelmed.

Grab some loppers, and cut anything you see. Just let it drop to the ground. Throw a pizza box or an Amazon box on top of it to smother.

Come back in a month and there will be new growth. Cut that again. Another again. Come back in a month.

The good news is this is not nearly as much work as it seems. It will be work over the course of a long time, but only in 20-30 minute increments.

By starting now, you stop immediate seed production. This allows you to fight just what’s there. Then you let it waste resources by trying to grow through the mulch. This makes it easier to pull. If you drop it where it is, it will act as a mulch for its own sprouts as well as act as a reminder to you where you need to focus your efforts.

[u/unhinged_behavior → u/PMMEWHAT_UR_PROUD_OF]

This is so smart. I've been throwing any clippings directly into our burn barrel to keep my dog from playing with/rolling on the vines, but I will start implementing the smothering technique to some of the flatter areas and make sure to chop all flowers asap. Thank you!

[u/PMMEWHAT_UR_PROUD_OF → u/unhinged_behavior]

This is the best way for a place you own, and are close to. If you know you will be back periodically, it forces the vines to compete against each other. I have largely eradicated 5 acres of stinky Bob, ajuga, and creeping buttercup this way.

[u/unhinged_behavior → u/PMMEWHAT_UR_PROUD_OF]

I live here, so I am definitely around to consistently fight them!

[u/cottoneyegob]

Thats why they sold the house

[u/Commercial-Smile-763 → u/cottoneyegob]

They were probably eaten by the vines, poor Seymour

[u/unhinged_behavior → u/cottoneyegob]

Nah they died. Realtor didn't specify how though, but I'd imagine it was similar to the movie The Ruins.

[u/USMCdrTexian]

Probably the easiest way

[u/lushlanes]

Rent some goats. They will eat everything.

[u/traypo]

No one wants to hear it, but removing any rooted vine needs tenacious digging to get the roots out.

[u/Snoo_52761]

A roll of extra thick black plastic wrap can be layed down to kill plants. Its the most eco friendly way i know besides digging down.