I have a PI vine growing up a fence post 10' tall and hanging down over a DL bed. I have brushed against it when hybridizing and collecting seed pods but PI really does not bother me. I just have to keep Ashton and family away from it. When I was making the bed several years ago, I was pulling all the grass and weeds and realized that I had been pulling up PI with bare hands as well. When I checked my piles of debris there was lots of small PI plants. It did leave a couple of small pink bumps between my fingers that itched a little. I guess PI grows all over the country. Everyone here has it growing except Charley in NM.
I would put on long sleeves and gloves and dig the DL and clean it but that is just me .
I have cut my PI vine off near the ground and treated with with some killer but it came back.
I think things like pests of any kind should be conquered and it is on my list to get rid of somehow.
The spring after I made all my first seedling beds we had hundreds of Black Widow spiders in our landscape borders. Another year the sand scorpions were everywhere. You could flip a rock and find a half dozen. We don't find as many in the gardens any more, but I did get stung by a scorpion this spring - ouch.
Gardening is so much fun (and work) no matter the challenges.
Terry
