Sound the trumpets, grab your hedge clippers

Insidious invaders [are] in our midst.

Find them in almost any vacant lot, climbing to the top of our beautiful trees. I refer, of course to the green trespassers that go by the un-English name of kudzu.

Surely, volunteer organizers such as Quality Forward and United Way have not overlooked this menace. Perhaps it’s just easier to fish tires out of the French Broad than to admit the difficulty of eradicating the vine that is smothering our neighborhoods. Take a good look. Walk past the Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church and the apartment buildings on the street near the University. There is a heretic worth attacking if there ever was one.

Teams of half a dozen stalwarts on weekends could go a long way to stopping the encroachment before the seeds begin their harvest.

A special kind of 2010 census could pinpoint the outbreaks to organize the strategic attack.

— LeGrand Smith
Asheville

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2 thoughts on “Sound the trumpets, grab your hedge clippers

  1. Thanks for pointing out the Kudzu problem. I live near UNCA and last year, went out on my own and cut the Kudzu around two trees, trying to save them. I even called UNCA and hooked up with a fellow who sounded interested in getting volunteers together.
    I get frustrated watching this pest plant – another Asian Invasion – kill one tree after another. Folks live right next to this ugly patch and do nothing. Some act like it is an unstoppable force – just like our trade deficit with the other Asian threat.

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