Hi all,
I'm looking for opinions from people who have hardy kiwi vines on their property, especially older, established ones.
I recently planted 7 cultivars on my property under some tall black cherry trees much to the horror of my neighbor, who referenced a local problem in Kennedy Park, Lenox, MA:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/wildlife-habitat-conservation/miller-case-studies-for-successful-management-on-town-and-land-trust-lands.pdf

Reading that proposal of course makes a case for them being invasive, but the problem appears to be the result of a 100-year-old planting at the now-demolished Hotel Aspinwall that was on the site.

Much of the evidence provided by MIPAG in this case is anecdotal or speculative; and in many instances, the claims are false. In general, the petition disregards the nearly 140 year history of the species in the region and seeks to portray abandoned historic plantings as invasions into second growth forests that are arguably younger than the vines themselves

-University of New Hampshire

This is also essentially what I was told by Stephen Bryer of Tripple Brook Farm who has been propagating them for decades. Other arguments against them being invasive are pretty well summarized here: https://permaculturegreenhouse.com/2017/01/05/call-to-action-hardy-kiwi-may-be-illegal-to-grow-in-new-england/


What has your experience been?

I am open to removing them if the risk of a future problem is high, but this appears to me like a management problem. What would you do?

actinida arguta has been found to naturalize in Mass and CT, the vines are extremely aggressive. I don't think they are a really good choice for the long term, but that's just my opinion. I like a lot of invasive plants, but its hard for me to get excited about vines that can take down forest trees. I just started growing actinida kolomitka, another species of hardy kiwi. Its growth is not as vigorous, the vines only grow to about 20 ft at maturity, rather than the hundreds of feet that a. arguta will grow. There's not alot of good sources for cultivars of a. kolomitka. I got mine from Burnt Ridge Nursery, and I saw that HoneyberryUSA also carries them.

Thanks for your reply Akiva, I found the CT study you mentioned. With two documented cases nearby I will probably remove them, no sense in risking it or causing needless issues with the neighbors.
I will have to look into a. kolomitka!

I'm still interested in opinions from anyone in NE that has established hardy kiwi vines if they care to chime in.