Smiling at smilax

One of the nasty things about smilax is that it is the first thing to turn green, and start growing, after winter.

One of the nice things about smilax is that it is the first thing to turn green, and start growing, after winter. Because you can see it.

My best anti-smilax weapon is the cordless hedgecutter. It slices through the stuff like butter. I cut it very low to the ground, then through the vines higher up, then chop it all to bits. It soon dries and turns into smilax dust. And over time, it grows less and less vigorously.

I've found trees and bushes that are only held together by the briar: smilax has strangled all the life out of them, the tree or branch has become dead and dry, but the nasty green barbed wire has grown stronger and tighter and held the dead branch in place. As the vines are cut and dry , you risk having dead wood fall on your head!

I am not so dumb as to think I can prevent the stuff from coming back. However, if it's kept low, the deer seem to help as the shoots are more tender than a fifty-foot vine with spines/thorns/prickles/hooks/knives or whateve you want to call them. And the native, non-invasive plants will grow stronger and take back more of their rightful habitat.

At least, I hope so!