Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] The March of Kudzu.

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Marimike6@cs.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] The March of Kudzu.
  • Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:25:18 EDT

One picture can be worth a thousand words, Margaret. A few miles west of
Chase City, in southside Virginia, there's a historical marker at the side of
the
road celebrating the spot where kudzu was first introduced in America-- as a
useful planting for erosion control. The date is something like 1941.

I'll say this-- it is that! Surrounding the sign for easily a quarter mile in
every direction are hillsides swallowed up in its luxuriant verdure. None of
them have moved a bit. And you'll notice the plant cover is very lumpy.

That's because underneath it you'll find the remnants of the old forest it
devoured. Woods in the middle stages of digestion are enveloped up to the
tree
crowns, and streamers in full leaf then fall back down to the ground. The
effect is much like the one described in the book Green Mansions, where it
looks
like giant cathedrals of green. Dinosaurs would not be out of place.

Very spooky. The plant outgrows ordinary biocides. The only way I know to get
rid of it is to come in with bulldozers and grade down to a depth of five
feet. This should get rid of most of the roots, which you can then pick out
of
the dirt and isolate.

Michael




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page