Vines

It always amazes me when in documentaries I see a plane fly over a jungle in say Cambodia and all I see is jungle for kilometres, yet someone in the plane sees something different.  They see a change in the topography.  It tells them there may be something there and it is worth taking a closer look.  Sure enough. when back on the ground they find a structure from long ago.  The jungle has reclaimed it.  Trees crowd it and vines are all over it.  The structure is slowly decaying.
I find vines are like that.  We had a horticulturalist here.  He knew the good vines from the bad.  We have a bad one.  We actually have a few bad ones as well as good ones.  It seems the good ones need to be nurtured and encouraged, while the bad ones just take over.
One of the things I find disconcerting about the bad vines is they readily crowd out the good ones.  They take over.  It is not a vine. but Lantana was like that.  I had a pile of it one place I lived.  I got rid of it.  What we see a lot of these days is a new breed that is low growing and less inclined to take over.  It is great garden edging.
One vine we have is like the worst.  If we break it off but leave it there, the broken off bit becomes a new vine.  It proliferates.  It is hard enough to get rid of anyway without doing that.
I find the only way to deal with bad vines is to pull them out by the roots and put them in the bin.  They can be real pretty but if let go, they crowd out the good stuff until it is dead and they are like “look at me, look at me.”
Some roots are really hard to pull up.  When gardening I tend to look at something I have pulled up to make sure I have got the roots.  If I have not, then there is no doubt I will see it again.
Roots are hidden.  Vines are public.  Some roots have a really good grip.  At the very least I need to brace myself to get rid of them.  Sometimes I need to dig around them or soften the soil around them to get rid of them.
When a root is hard to remove, I look around to see what else will be affected by my pulling it out.  I look after the plants I want to keep by making sure that any impact of pulling the vine root, is minimized.  I want to lose the vine preferably without losing plants I want.
That can be easier said than done.  Some vines are hard to get at.  I need to trace it back to where it comes out of the ground, and where it emerges can be a crowded place.  There is a good chance I never planted the vine (though in ignorance I may have), but it has made itself at home amongst what I did plant.
I know though, if I do not deal with it, it will take over.  I need to keep a watchful eye out and deal with things as I become aware of them.  Otherwise they take over.  Bit like the jungles in Cambodia.