In fact, invincible Kudzu has even traveled to the United States from Japan and has overwhelmed everything including local trees, a colleague told me. Here is an article on its amazing growth.
Last summer I was too busy to go to my second house for nearly two
months. In late August I could finally make it, only to find the garden turned a jungle in which vines entangle even my house’s second floor balcony.
It was only three months after professional gardeners completely removed weeds.
I got determined I really need to avoid the situation this year before it gets too hot in summer. As discussed, the idea is to
create an English garden with gravel and brick paths on anti-weed fabrics.
To that end I did an experiment of a relatively cheap fabric. A few
weeks later, the result was it didn’t work – even very tiny weeds penetrated it.
After thorough investigation on anti-weed fabrics, I learned
professional exterior designers recommend a DuPont product called Xavan 240BB.
Apparently it is made of four types of fabrics durable for ten years and even
the powerful types of weeds do not penetrate it.
Speaking of DuPont, I remembered that the key reason why the Montreal Protocol became
a successful environmental treaty to control ozone depleting substances is that
the company could develop alternative products to them. Xavan 240BB is the most expensive type of weed-control fabrics ($120
for a 1m x 30m roll), but I thought it might be worth trying it.
Two weeks after I used it on gravel and bricks and created a
path, I found no weeds on it whatsoever. I hope it will continue for the next decade.
When the garden was full of weeds, bees were frequently flying and
creating a nest on the eaves of a cabin. I was at a loss. But after removing
the weeds and starting to construct an English garden, somehow the bee nest was empty. Before any
bees would come back, I prodded it down with a stick. What a relief...!
A gardener is a governor, I would say. All the living things whether Kudzu or bees in this small
ecosystem called a garden is watching her. It is vital to demonstrate the garden is
my territory and kick out invaders by taking appropriate
actions. At the same time, it is important to use environmentally friendly methods
to maintain the healthy ecosystem.
