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Kudzu - Southerners, tell your tales

post #1 of 17
8/1/09 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
I live in downtown Tallahassee but bordering a pocket nature preserve that is little known. Anyway, I decided to clear out my backyard of kudzu. Once I did that, I had a mound about two feet by five feet square. I then started in on the nature preserve, which is probably about five acres or so. Cleared out a massive mound, so large it completely covers my backyard patio. I could literally run and jump into it and be cushioned. I spent a total of about six hours on this, drinking five beers in the process, mainly to postpone working on an 18 page paper I have due on Tuesday.
I have crushed the kudzu, driven it before me, and heard the lamentations of its womenz.

And in five years, it will be right back at my doorstep.

This should really be in dumb threads.
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post #2 of 17
8/1/09 at 6:54pm
I've heard that the south has so much kudzu that if turned into ethanol fuel, it would totally relieve the US reliance on oil AND coal.

Actually I never heard that.
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post #3 of 17
8/1/09 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
Like a lot of things, it's really bad in Appalachia. Whole mountainsides just covered with the stuff. Good for preventing erosion though....
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post #4 of 17
8/1/09 at 7:50pm
I don't live in those neighborhoods.
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post #5 of 17
8/1/09 at 10:17pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyquik View Post
I don't live in those neighborhoods.

Those neighborhoods that have kudzu? I was unaware that was a sign of a bad neighborhood.
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post #6 of 17
8/1/09 at 10:33pm
It'll grow back real fast. The root systems are massive--the only way to really get rid of it is to cut it close to the ground, regularly, for months. Years, really.
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post #7 of 17
8/1/09 at 11:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLMountainMan View Post
Those neighborhoods that have kudzu? I was unaware that was a sign of a bad neighborhood.

It's not a sign of a bad neighborhood, it's just I've never lived within 2 or 3 miles of it.

Part of it's 'success' is because it was given to farmers for free, or they were even paid by the federal government to grow it for erosion control. Government intervention ftw

I have heard of a few enterprising farmers who build a small corral in a pasture, and plant kudzu in it. It then grows, via runners, across the pasture and is eaten off, but never killed, by grazing animals. Has about the same nutrient content as alfalfa. Of course it's dormant in the winter, but so is everything else.
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post #8 of 17
8/1/09 at 11:48pm
Kudzu apparently was an import from Japan in 1876. From 1935, the US Government actually encouraged planting it as a soil erosion countermeasure. Only from the early 1950's was it officially classified as a noxious weed... It's a pain in the ass to kill, and it spreads easily even with bits of cut-up Kudzu root being able to regenerate into new vines. You either have to be willing to adopt an environmentally-incorrect scorched earth policy and use a ton of herbicides, or resign yourself to back-breaking hard labor twice a year.
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post #9 of 17
8/1/09 at 11:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackjack View Post
Kudzu apparently was an import from Japan in 1876. From 1935, the US Government actually encouraged planting it as a soil erosion countermeasure. Only from the early 1950's was it officially classified as a noxious weed...

It's a pain in the ass to kill, and it spreads easily even with bits of cut-up Kudzu root being able to regenerate into new vines. You either have to be willing to adopt an environmentally-incorrect scorched earth policy and use a ton of herbicides, or resign yourself to back-breaking hard labor twice a year.

Or buy a goat.

Srsly.

Better yet, a llama. Coyotes or stray dogs will terrorize your goat, but not your llama.
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post #10 of 17
8/2/09 at 12:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyquik View Post
Or buy a goat.

Srsly.

Better yet, a llama. Coyotes or stray dogs will terrorize your goat, but not your llama.

I would love a sheep, but the people's republic of Tallahassee prohibits farm animals inside city limits. I was toying around with making some rope or some other nonsense out of it, but I'll probably just fill the dumpsters with it.

I'm resigned to it coming back, but it was still immensely satisfying to do. It really let a lot of sunshine into everything and I love working with my hands after sitting in a cubicle all week. I'm going to dig up a huge root ball I noticed tomorrow and then give it a rest.
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post #11 of 17
8/2/09 at 12:42am
i've had a similar experience with hydrilla. i've raked it out front of my lake house and had it piled 3 feet high covering my pier. equally awful stuff, and it smells really bad as it dries out.
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post #12 of 17
8/2/09 at 12:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by js4design View Post
i've had a similar experience with hydrilla. i've raked it out front of my lake house and had it piled 3 feet high covering my pier. equally awful stuff, and it smells really bad as it dries out.

Hydrilla really sucks! I think it's worse than kudzu. It really has no redeemable features whatsoever.
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post #13 of 17
8/2/09 at 12:47am
I wonder if it'd be suitable for (hot) composting?
My concern would be whether the heat generated inside the compost would be sufficient enough to kill the root 'crowns'. Otherwise the compost would be totally infected with kudzu!
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post #14 of 17
8/2/09 at 2:02am
That is a totally interesting concept. I'll do some research on that. I doubt it would be, but it's possible.

I think I'd rather have kudzu than bamboo though. It's easier to buy a goat than a panda.
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post #15 of 17
8/2/09 at 2:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyquik View Post
I think I'd rather have kudzu than bamboo though. It's easier to buy a goat than a panda.

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