Trumpet vine (campsis radicans) - has anyone collected one?

[coh]

If so, how aggressive can I be with the roots?

We planted one near our deck 5+ years ago but when we put it in the ground, I didn't realize how aggressive they were...sending up runners in every garden bed, and generally looking messy. Wanted to get it out of there, so figured I'd try to collect it.

So...I trenched part way around the base last summer, then dug it up a few days ago. Didn't really get much in the way of fibrous root. But there is a mass of large (thick) roots that sits under what would be considered the "nebari". I was thinking of sawing a flat base through these roots so I can fit it more easily into a container for a year. Any thoughts/recommendations?

Plant is twin trunk, larger trunk is about 3" in diameter at the base with nice bark. Trunks don't have a lot of taper. I cut it down to about 3' for the time being. It's probably going to be too large for me to keep potted...anyone interested in trumpet vine? I have some photos, will post later.

Chris

 

[Dav4]

All I know is that I cut down two trumpet vines that were eating the front of my house 3 years ago, each about 4" in diameter at the ground, painted the stumps with concentrated Round up.............and have been pulling or spraying round up on new sprouts from the roots ever since. If you want it to survive, I'm guessing it would do better with more roots but it will likely survive whether you want it to or not, regardless of what you do to the roots...personally I'd go for it.

 

[coh]

I've heard that those residual root suckers take forever to eradicate. Wish I'd known all this before I planted the thing!

Anyway, here are the photos.

1) Entire plant (laying on garage floor). Total length of the longer trunk is about 3'.



2) Close up of bark on lower trunk.



3) Root mass viewed from side...not much fine root. Thinking of sawing through that clump from upper left to lower right.

 

[Dav4]

I guess you have to ask yourself how cautious do you really want to be with this particular stock. It's always a risk to severely reduce the roots, but I bet there's alot of energy stored in that trunk to aid new root growth, and you're going to have to deal with the crummy roots sooner or later. I'd probably do your cuts now and liberally apply rooting hormone anywhere above the cut devoid of obvious roots. Your alternative is to do annual re-pots and root reduction until you get where you want to be, and that might take years. Personally, I wouldn't want to wait that long with this material.

 

[coh]

Yeah, I think I'm going to make the cuts and throw it in a pot for this season, see what happens. There's a good chance it'll wind up planted back in an out of the way spot in the yard (far from the house) if I can't find someone who wants it. I've already got too many projects, and this one may be larger than I want to deal with.

I know I've seen some trumpet vines in shows locally and I think Bill V. has one or two...I'll have to look for those next time I'm over there. Thanks for your thoughts!

Chris

 

[coh]

Update for anyone who may be interested...I went ahead and flat-cut the bottom, leaving almost no fine roots. Potted it up in a mixture of potting soil, nursery mix (peat based), perlite, bark. I guess these things are pretty tough as it looks like nothing happened to it...wild growth from everywhere, though concentrated at the tops of the trunks. Some roots are appearing in the drainage holes so I guess it's not living just off stored energy.

At this point I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it long term. The trunk doesn't have much taper, it's pretty much 3" all the way up. Movement is somewhat repetitive. For now it will be allowed to just grow and recover. Next spring? In the ground, cut back, passed along to someone else...we'll see!

Chris

 

[Johnnyd]

Any updates on your progress. I have a collected one that I am working. Growth is relentless!

 

[coh]

I gave up on the trumpet vine pretty quickly and just planted it in the ground, where it is happily taking over one side of my barn. Too many projects, decided the result probably wouldn't be worth the time and space this plant would require.

Good luck with yours.