Pesky plants – how to deal with Old Man’s Beard
Old Man’s Beard, a deciduous climbing vine that smothers and kills desirable trees and shrubs, is a plant no one wants to see in our catchment. Now is a great time to deal to it before it loses its leaves and goes dormant for winter.
Thanks to Owahanga Catchment Group leader, Mark Wheeler, for compiling this ‘dummies guide to Old Man’s Beard’.
Photo 1: Below is a young plant, bright green with a characteristic leaf shape with a serrated edge. It’s easiest to pull these out and hang them on another plant so they can’t touch the ground.
Photo 2: Juvenile vines can be purple or green (see below). The leaf has lost its serrated edge, the retains one or two lobes. The always occur in pairs, and can give rise to more creepers. Wiping herbicide gel directly on to stems this size is successful. Just to note, any vines with smooth round stems are natives.
Photos 3 and 4: Mature vines have a rope-like surface, they can grow to be the thickness of your arm. These must be cut through and both ends pasted.
Photo 5: A vine that is cut but not coated with herbicide, and touches the ground, can grow roots like this one and carry on growing. This is why it’s important to coat both ends of a cut vine with herbicide.
The final clue is the flowers, small (2-3cm in diameter) creamy white and sweet scented, produced in summer to autumn.
We have bottles of cut and paste herbicide available, ideal to carry on the bike or side-by-side to deal with it when out and about, if you come across this pesky vine.
If you would like any paste, please contact your catchment group leader or our administrator, June, administrator@ppcc.org.nz
