Virginia Creeper vine prettiest in cold weather but still an aggressive grower.

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ArtisTree Lawn & Ornamental Manager Carl Sikkema’s extensive experience includes turf management, identifying pest/health issues, and customer education. Carl is BMP-certified and bi-lingual in Spanish.

Virginia Creeper vine often treats SW Florida residents to a brilliant color show when temperatures drop. But it’s almost always misidentified, so every fall and winter I’ll get asked “What’s that bright red vine I see growing in all the trees?” and “Is it poison ivy?” 

So some facts. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is generally green in Florida’s spring and summer months but will turn bright shades of red when it gets cold. Same thing happens with poison ivy. But Virginia Creeper has five leaves, whereas poison ivy has just three. Birds and wildlife love its berries although they’re highly toxic to us humans.

Not suited for residential landscapes.

Can you introduce it to your residential landscape? Bad idea, although I did see it trained to grow on a trellis once. Virginia Creeper is extremely aggressive and can pop up all over the place – in your trees, shrubs and flower beds. It will even smother some of your smaller landscape plants. You can consider applying herbicides if you like, but they’ll never effectively control it because of its far-reaching root structure. Your best option is to hand-pull this vine as soon as you see it to help control spreading.

My best advice: Admire Virginia Creeper’s brilliant color display from afar, when you’re driving along wooded roads or walking near natural areas. If it’s there, I promise you’ll not only see it but remember it!

Virginia Creeper
This stunning Virginia Creeper slows down traffic in unincorporated Sarasota County.
ArtisTree HOA landscape maintenance

To get your landscape renovation started now, browse ArtisTree’s portfolio and then call Jenni Lassen at 941.488.8897, ext. 312, to meet with one of our award-winning designers. We proudly serve Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and South Hillsborough counties.

ArtisTree also provides complete landscape maintenance services for HOA communities throughout Southwest Florida. Contact Michael Casper at 941.488.8897, ext. 321, for your custom proposal.  

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