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PTC’s kudzu war has begun

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

The battle has begun.

Workers with the Peachtree City Public Works Department began fighting a most formidable foe late last week, and already the scarred remains of the battleground stand testament to their fortitude and courage.

Where once a large patch of kudzu threatened to overtake all the trees and a light pole fronting the Peachtree City Tennis Center, this week passersby can observe withering leaves, dying vines and freshly tilled soil.

“We are slowly attacking some kudzu areas of the city,” said Mayor Steve Brown, who made eradicating the infamous Southern vine one of the goals in his State of the City Address last January.

Workers used a combination of herbicides and good old fashioned elbow grease — chopping and cutting Ð to try and kill the vines along Planterra Way, the entrance to Planterra Ridge subdivision where Brown lives.

On Wednesday, it appeared the effort had at least been somewhat successful. If so, the same attack strategy will be rolled out to other areas of the city.

“We chose this as our demonstration site because you can view it from 360 degrees,” Brown said. “It will be easy to show the devastating effects of kudzu on that site.”

According to Brown, kudzu, introduced throughout the South innocently enough more than 100 years ago to help control soil erosion, threatens city trees in several key locations.

In addition to several areas around Planterra Ridge, kudzu can be found along nearby TDK Boulevard, along the cart path system in sections of Glenloch and Braelinn, along Robinson Road near Ga. Highway 54 and Shakerag Hill, and near the Kedron Aquatics Center and Fieldhouse, Brown said.

“We can truly say that we are a city that values our tree canopy and going after the kudzu will help,” said Brown earlier this year.