Posted by
whiteoleander on Nov 15, 2020 1:07 PM concerning plant:
HOW TO ERADICATE SMILAX-BONA-NOX (bull vine/devil vine). Smilax bona-nix is not only a nuisance, it is long-lived and invasive. Our property was over-run with this noxious vine. Many of the vines had thick, woody bases that branched out in multiple leafy, thorny vines across the canopy of trees by a creek. Digging out the root exposed small, white, potato-like clusters from which rhizomes shot off in all directions. The vine is so prolific, digging out the roots may not be an option. By the hardest, we pulled the vines down from the trees and cut them off to the ground. A couple of times each month, new shoots were relentlessly snipped to the ground before they produced leaves. Hand-hand gardening clippers are more effective than weed-eater cutting. It required a couple of seasons of systematically depriving the vines of photo-synthesis when, much to my surprise, the shoots dwindled in frequency, and then there were none! We have also used this method on other properties with similar success.
Posted by
jmorth (central Illinois) on Feb 20, 2018 1:07 AM concerning plant:
An aggressive, high-climbing, tough and woody vine weed that climbs trees and shrubs in east central Texas. Tendrils allow it to climb very high. Stems have spiny thorns and are hazardous to humans. This perennial rhizome sends out underground stems that make roots and shoots at nodes.
When my brother-in-law volunteered to help clean up a Ft Worth nature preserve, he said removing these vines was a near everyday job. Eradication is not easy. Inevitably, they'd come back.
Posted by
plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Oct 18, 2011 7:56 PM concerning plant:
Saw Greenbriar is found in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas around the world. It is a thorny vine that climbs trees and fences and can attain heights in excess of 20 feet. It will cover shrubs and other plants forming prickly dense thickets. The green leaves are variable in shape and sometimes have yellowish blotches. The berries are an important food source for birds and other animals, and the dense thickets offer protection and shelter.
This thorny vine is considered a weed by many here in Florida. I find this plant growing in wooded scrub areas along our property line, as well as popping up and climbing around and through the chain link fence. It's hard to eradicate without digging the rhizomes which seem to go deep into the soil.
Posted by
amyscoutmom (central Virginia - Zone 6b) on Feb 19, 2018 12:27 PM concerning plant:
I found smilax growing wild in my backyard yesterday, in Louisa, VA. It had some pretty black berries still on the vine that the birds and squirrels haven't finished off yet.