fight over the backyard

I have been in a fight over who owns the yard behind our house for the last month. Two weeks ago, I lost the battle for that day. Yesterday I returned to the battle field as I want to win the war. Vines have been trying to kill my tress, but yesterday I taught them that I am in it for the long haul. Two weeks ago as I was moving the vines I had removed from some of the trees to a brush pile, I tripped on a stump, which I think was trying to get me back for hurting it's brethren. The farmer who originally owned the land, deposited a pile of glass and metal right where I fell and that is why I think the stump tried to get me. I cut my arm pretty bad and had to rush to the local Fuquay Urgent Care, where I was seen by a great doctor who gave me 14 stitches. I had a "nice" tetanus shot, which will keep me out of harms way in the battle zone for the next 10 years.

I have three different vines trying to kill my trees. The most hasty of all is the green briers. I have seen this enemy before growing up in Virginia. The bright green stems and the long yellowish thorns give them away. They really climb up a tree and they once they reach the top, the grow leaves and have no thorns. The second enemy is wild grapevine. It does not have thorns, but it makes up for it in the shear volume of vines it grows from one root. Once they reach the top of brushes or small trees they pretty much choke the poor neighbor to death. I actually have found a couple of grapevines 2" in diameter, which reach to the top of 100' trees. The last one I have been fighting is a hard enemy to conquer, it is Carolina jasmine. It looks so pretty this time of year with its yellow flower, but it really puts the choke hold on small bushes. It wraps itself around the trunk and a strangle hold. It you try to pull it off, then it will either break off or snap the tree or brush. I have one 50' tree that it crawled all the way up and made a cork screw bite into the tree half way up. It made sure if it ever died in battle it would leave a mark to be remembered.

For now I have 1/3 of the area cleared of vines and it is looking very nice. In other areas I am not going to clear I have wild raspberries and blackberries, so I am forced to leave the nasty vines alone to I can have the berries from the good vines. I also a have a couple of poison ivy vines, but I have to leave those alone as I am highly allergic to them, but that is another story...