vines killing woods???

[kenabcd]

The back of our farm has a nice woods consisting of a kind of eastern hardwood mix. cherry, butternut, ash, oak, and elm are the main trees. I have noticed within the last few years that there are woody vines kind of crawling up the trees and pulling them down. Killing them. The vines wrap up the trees and the trees die. Looks parasitic. The vines travel accross the ground and pile up in some areas. The thickest vines are along the ground sometimes 2 to 3"
in diameter. I have been cutting the vines down but I guess I need to spend more time out there cause the vines are winning.

I was wondering what the heck these things are and if there is a better way to get rid of them. If I was 500 miles south Iwould say it almost looks like mutant kudzu but with our cold winters(central Minn.) it can't be that and they are too big anyway.

Any help with identifing these '"weeds" would be welome.
Thanks, Ken Bauman

 

[WAYNEDANA]

Vines

Ken, I am pretty sure that the vines you are describing are wild grape vines. If you just cut the vines off at ground level, more than likely they will come back. You should cut them as low as possible and then you need to apply a brush killer of some type to the stump. Ortho has one for vines and brush. You can mix some in a spray bottle for easy use.
Also you can use these vines to add to charcoal on the grill for smoke. Or cows and horses like to eat them to.
Good luck,,,WAYNE.