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?
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