TAK

The vine that ate the south has been eating my yard and I want it back. This is what the flower bed used to look like before the kudzu vine swallowed everything including the edge of the bed. It's coming from my neighbor's yard to eat the trees, the shrubs, the ground, pretty much anything that gets in its way. If you're lucky enough to never have met this monster, let me introduce you to the most aggressive vine in the United States. It was brought here from Asia in the late 1800s and was planted to help control erosion. And unfortunately, it did its job a little too well. During the summer it can grow up to a foot a day and that's why people named it the vine that ate the south. Even though I'm in Ohio, this patch apparently didn't get the memo. It was giving me a workout, it's incredibly tough and anchors in everywhere it can. Oh my goodness. When it got a little too rough, I deflected the cutting the tree that was in my way because of course, that's what I do. To be fair though, they definitely need to go because they're part of the problem that's shading out this flower bed. This web of vines on the ground is probably the worst I've had to deal with. I thought I'd start pulling vines and just see where I can get, but it turns out every vine is attached to 50 more. Even though the vine is technically my neighbor's problem, I try to keep on top of it because if I don't, this is what happens. The year before last, it started creeping in and then last year it really took over and I just got so frustrated, I threw the towel in and didn't even deal with it at all. As you can see, that was a big mistake. The neighbor said he would take care of it because he saw how it was overtaking my garden, but I learned that if I want anything done around here, then I have to do it. I actually did this project at the beginning of last month, but editing this footage was just as overwhelming as doing. This is particularly frustrating because it always feels like a never-ending project because this vine grows so fast. Just when you think you've cleared it all and you're ahead of the game, you turn around and boom, it's right back where it started. You should see the neighbor's backyard, the trees look like something out of the Lorax. I figured this project would be a challenge, but as I stand here looking around, I realized it was going to be a bigger battle than I expected. And this is only part 1. Part 2 is up now.