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Safely eradicate invasive trumpet vine from asparagus bed #870974

Asked May 31, 2024, 2:40 PM EDT

A neighbor's trumpet vine has migrated 30 or 40 feet into my 5 year old asparagus trench. Is there any method to safely eradicate this? One runner I pulled out had an 8" long root, which placed it as far down as the adjacent asparagus root crown. I hesitate to treat the vines with poison, fearing that it will leach through the root deep into the soil, and lead the asparagus to uptake it. Is their a "safe" vine killer or other method, and if so should I wait a few weeks until I'm done harvesting the asparagus spears? Perhaps any residual poison will be gone by next spring?

Baltimore County Maryland

Expert Response

Hi, 

Could you provide a photo of the area? It may help us to see the situation. 

Maybe you can pull or cut back the vine until it is just clear of the asparagus patch and carefully apply a systemic herbicide just to those cuts. Glyphosate will bind to the soil in the area where it dissolves into the roots, so potentially it wouldn't travel to the asparagus. Triclopyr or other systemic herbicides tend to travel through water or are more water soluble so they could potentially have more harm or uptake in the asparagus roots. 

Just be sure to read label directions and see what the half life is for each chemical listed. You can check at the National Pesticide Information Council. (this link is a general fact page for glyphosate - but you can search for others on this site) Waiting until after harvest would probably be best to be safe, or just pulling what you can until then. 

If a systemic herbicide were to get onto the asparagus it would probably end up killing those plants or damaging them at least. 

Feel free to send back a few photos and we may be able to give you more specific guidance. 

Emily

Apologies for taking so long to get back to you, but thank you so much for your response! I ended up targeting individual trumpet vine sprouts with glyphosate, and although it took weeks to have an effect, it worked quite well.
I have attached a pic of a dead vine, and a growing one. As soon as the picking is done, I'll be targeting some more.
(Please pardon the weeds-  recovering from knee surgery and haven't been able to weed!)
Thank you again for your advice. 
Tim
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On Monday, June 3, 2024 at 10:18:39 AM EDT, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


The Question Asker Replied June 17, 2024, 11:30 AM EDT

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