Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Wednesday - March 26, 2014
From: Richmond, KY
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Invasive Plants, Non-Natives, Vines
Title: Eliminating kudzu from Richmond KY
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live in Richmond KY, Kirksville area. I have noticed that Kudzu has started to grow in my patch of land next to the creek. How can I get rid of this before it becomes a big problem?ANSWER:
The quicker you get at it, the better chance you have of actually controlling it. Here is a Smarty Plants previous answer on taking on invasive plants, including kudzu. You might want to enlist some neighbors to do the same thing to protect their own properties.
From the Missouri Department of Conservation, here is an article on Kudzu Control. We want to emphasize this sentence from that article:
"All land owners in an infestation area must cooperate in a unified program."
Get it before it gets you. Since we obviously would have no pictures of an invasive non-native in our Native Plant Image Gallery, here are some pictures of kudzu so you can know the enemy. Good luck!
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