Your ultimate guide to Kudzu in the Carolinas: How to tackle the invasive plant and win

Three quick things:

• Kudzu, a Japanese vine originally brought to North Carolina in the late 1800s, is an invasive species that spreads rapidly, taking over resources that other plants need to survive. It can cause significant environmental damage if left unchecked.
• Methods to tackle Kudzu include constant mowing to weaken the plant over time, using herbicides to manage overwhelming spread or even renting goats to eat the plant. But the most effective way is to dig out all its root crowns, an intensely physical and time-consuming task.
• Using proper tools like a hand mattock, pruners and a collapsible saw can facilitate the process. A cooperative approach with neighbors is also recommended, as Kudzu doesn’t respect property lines.

Kudzu , a Japanese invasive vine originally brought to North Carolina in the late 1800s to help farmers battle erosion, spreads like wildfire and takes over resources that anything else needs to grow.

In the brutal hot and humid temperatures of our classic Carolina summers, these alien-like plants can grow up to a foot a day . The vines climb trees, fences and even homes, while sometimes gigantic leaves take over all the sunlight.

If you’ve gone anywhere near Kudzu before, you don’t need us to tell you how bad it is. But bad news aside, conservation experts have told us that you can step into the ring with Kudzu and even win … if you do all the right things.

We talked with Pam Torlina (community engagement director of nonprofit Conserving Carolina and the co-founder of their volunteer group the Kudzu Warriors ) and Joanna Radford (NC State Cooperative Extension horticulture agent in Surry County) to learn how to battle Kudzu in the Carolinas.

“Management is the best solution. Doing a little bit at a time, on a regular basis, is the best practice,” Torlina said, noting Kudzu Warrior workdays are intentionally two hours to avoid burnout.

“If you do nothing, the problem will only get worse. Kudzu grows a foot a day during the growing season.”

Here’s what to know.

What does Kudzu look like?

Kudzu looks different in the warm months versus the cool months.

• Warm months : Kudzu has light green and slightly hairy stems that are covered in darker green trifolate (three in the same spot) leaves. The leaves are oval or heart-shaped, each one typically three or four inches long.

In summer’s heat, the vines can grow up to a foot a day. Mature Kudzu can reach up to 100 feet in length. It also has purple flowers in the late summer or early fall.

• Cool months : Like trees, Kudzu loses leaves in the winter months and just looks brown and woody, similar to tree branches. Kudzu does not grow in the winter, but its long, brown stems remain in place.

How to remove Kudzu

The only surefire way to remove Kudzu is to find and dig out all its root crowns , which can be an intensely physical and long process. (A whole section of this article, below, is devoted to the how-to of this.)

Kudzu vines grow from the crowns, so digging out and correctly getting rid of root crowns — which are just below the surface — is the only way to stop Kudzu from returning. Note: Even a small part of the root crown remaining underground can cause more vines to grow … and fast.

There are some other methods that can work, though they can take years:

• Constant mowing : Keeping Kudzu from continually growing can weaken Kudzu over time, “teaching” the plant it’s not worth it to keep sprouting. Large patches would need a hefty industrial lawnmower, but for smaller patches in smaller plots of land, you could even go outside every few days with a pair of scissors and snip off new growth.

You can leave those vines lying around — without connection to the root crown, vines won’t form taproots and continuously grow. Instead, they’ll dry out and become straw-like branches merely littering your yard.

Experts estimate mowing alone takes four to five years to stop Kudzu from regrowing.

• Herbicides : This method will also weaken Kudzu over time, though the most effective way for this method to work is to get herbicide into the root crown or roots themselves to destroy the plant from the inside.

Applying a Glyphosate solution herbicide on top of the plant can kill the above-ground green vining portion of Kudzu (which may help you mow it down better), but it won’t stop it from growing back. Manual mowing and herbicide application is needed to weaken the plant and make it slowly stop growing overall.

The Kudzu Warriors have had success killing large swaths of Kudzu with repeated herbicide foliar spray applications when the plant is in flower (late September or early October).

When your Kudzu is a small enough patch to be controlled with mowing, the herbicide method would be most effective after mowing vines — ideally within a minute of cutting them down — so the chemical can get into the fresh cut and travel down into the plant’s roots.

Experts estimate two to three years of constant mowing plus herbicide applications to stop Kudzu from regrowing.

• Goats : Yes, goats. These living garbage disposals love chowing down on the plant’s vines, leaves and stems, and they can clear a gigantic patch of Kudzu in a few weeks.

Goats are essentially lawnmowers with horns and hooves, so they can eat Kudzu all summer long and stop it from growing out of control. But merely renting goats for a weeks-long stretch ( which you can do! ) won’t stop the Kudzu from growing back. For a large property with lots of Kudzu, goats may be a worthwhile investment.

• Use the right tools : The Kudzu Warriors use a hand mattock, hand pruners and a collapsible saw. When applying herbicide, they use a sponge-tipped applicator and add blue dye to the herbicide solution to target particular areas (and track chemical use).

• Talk to your neighbors : Kudzu knows, nor respects, no property line. If you’re committed to getting Kudzu off your property, you’ll have to go beyond your fence line to get rid of it everywhere.

Even if you follow these instructions perfectly, a healthy stock of Kudzu nearby creates lots of seed. Wind and animals can carry these back to your property and start the growing process again. Kudzu is a yearslong battle, but experts agree it’s a worthwhile one to fight.

How to find and dig out Kudzu’s root crowns

1. Follow a vine to where it roots in the soil. (Sometimes, one vine may have multiple rooting points.)

2. Dig around that spot and look for a woody knob or ball near the surface. The structure is a root crown if it has several buds, new sprouts and/or mature vines emerging from it.

3. Use a mattock to dig around and expose the crown , then a saw or hand pruners to cut just below every crown , severing it from the roots.

Kudzu cannot regrow from roots/tubers that are below the crown, and it cannot sprout from lateral roots, but crowns left in place can re-root and start from square one.

Without the root crowns, the roots/tubers left underground will decompose, so leaving them in the ground will add nitrogen and other helpful nutrients to your soil.

4. If you’re not sure if you removed the whole root crown, apply herbicide — Torlina recommends a 50% solution of Glyphosate — directly to the fresh cut immediately after cutting.

5. Dispose of the crowns, vines and roots . Some invasive plants require plastic bags so they don’t regrow, but this one is pretty easy-going once the crown is cut off from the roots. Still, it’s best not to toss the waste over your fence, potentially a recipe for more Kudzu to grow back.

Kudzu removal resources for the Carolinas

Here are some more Kudzu-battling resources the experts recommend:

• Expert tips from the Kudzu Warriors: conservingcarolina.org/Kudzu-warriors

• Blue Ridge PRISM: blueridgeprism.org

• The Spruce: thespruce.com

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