permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

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