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Nasty creepy creeper


Geranium

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Our new house is covered with (I guess) Virginia creeper - not ivy.  it's covering the windows, onto the roof and is determined to take over.  Once all the leaves have fallen i want toremove a lot of it but I think it will leave a 'tracery' all over the walls.

What is the most effective and efficient way of removing this climber without leaving remnants of its' stay?

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If it is Virginia creeper, then all I do is rip it off. It comes away quite cleanly, leaving little in the way of tendrils/suckers. I just hack it back to the size I want and it just grows again. I have never tried this in winter, only spring or early autumn, so I don't know if a hard cut back would affect it if the sap is not rising.

If its grown under roof tiles etc then you may have more of a problem.

Tony

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It would be worth trying a small part first before you rip it   off. When we took over our house there was such a creeper all over one wall of the house which had also spread to parts of the roof and across the ceiling of the verandah. We pulled it all down but it left behind the " tracery " you mention in some places. It was fixed to the wall with tiny suckers which are ****** to get off - no other way than by hand individually. Tried a stiff wire brush and it was useless. I spent a week during the summer moving most of these. The high up ones would need scaffolding to reach. I wish now we had left it and just trimmed the surplus off the roof and verandah. So think twice before you do it. Pat.
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Thanks for the replies. Yes Pat I have a feeling I may get the same problem.  I can see where the creeper has been before on the pigeonniere and I can see the marks left!  Thanks for the tip, perhaps I should just trim it away from the roof and windows first.
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We had this climber, known locally as 'vigne' climbing all over the end of the house. It was a never ending battle to keep it getting under the tiles, I found I needed to keep a 'no climb' zone of about 3 feet between the plant and the roof. Even then it was a fight to tear open the shutters and fasten them back. Me have now moved permanantly to a modern house and I did NOT take a cutting of the stuff with me! Picturesque but impracticable for a house visited occasionally.

MikeW
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