trumpet vine

Question

I have a trumpet vine growing up a tree. will it kill the tree?

Answer 1

I planted a trumpet vine many years ago on a mature oak tree that was 20 feet away from my back yard patio. It is has now grown to the top of the tree which is probably 100 feet tall. The vine has provided nectar to hummingbirds, nesting areas for squirrels and food for other birds and wildlife. We have really enjoyed the blooms and activity of the birds etc. I did not know to pick up the dropped seed pods for several years and new vines are growing all over my yard which I regularly pull up weekly during the growing season. Mowing the young plants does not kill them. Also we have a sprinkler system in our yard and the trumpet vine gets watered regularly. Some of the roots of the original plant have become massive ( Up to 3 inches in diameter) and have gone under our concrete patio extension and lifted it up 1/4 to 1/2 an inch so that water doesn’t drain off quickly. Offshoots of the trumpet vine regularly come up between the seam of the original patio and the extension. We try to kill or pull them up but they continue to reappear. So… we have recently cut the trunk of the trumpet vine and are attempting to kill the roots. We will miss the blooms and have planted flowers that do not have invasive roots to attract the hummingbirds. Now that the top of the vine has died I can see that the oak tree leaves are spare where it vine was thick, but the tree is fine and I’m sure it will fill in as the new leaves grow in the Spring.