Cut park vines with CJ's James Bruggers

• Cherokee Park event is from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 11.
• Location: Scenic Loop and Cochran Hill Road Cherokee Park
• Registration required on Eventbrite to participate.

I'll admit it: I'm biased.

I don't like invasive vines.

And I can see them everywhere. That's what can happen with an obsession.

Two years ago, I reported on how these green, aggressive vines were stealing life from Louisville's trees, slowly killing thousands of oaks, maples, tulip poplars, along with a host of other varieties, in a city that's wrestling with a decimated tree canopy.

It's still a problem, the experts tell me.

So on Aug. 11, as many as 50 or 60 people will have an opportunity to join me helping the Olmsted Parks Conservancy cut out some of those vines. The Cherokee Park event will include a short discussion on the problem and instructions on what to do about them. Participants may be moved to go home and take out vines in their own yards or neighborhoods, or to sign up for more volunteer work with the conservancy.

Gloves, tools and guidance will be provided. Just dress for the weather and working outdoors

Invasive vines "steal nutrients away from our native plants," said Sarah Wolff, volunteer recruiter and parks activity leader for the nonprofit conservancy, which works with volunteers, donors and Louisville Metro Parks to help restore and maintain the city's Olmsted-designed parks. "They also tend to weigh down our smaller canopy trees and just give it a messy look."

Birds can eat fruit from some of these vines, and then spread them further, Wolff said.

Left for years, some climb way up into trees and smother nearly all their leaves, blocking photosynthesis.

"We can't afford to lose any more trees in this city," Wolff said.

Yew Dell Botanical Gardens executive director Paul Cappiello said there are good vines and bad vines. The good ones grow slowly and stay where they are supposed to. The bad ones grow fast and can weaken and kill trees in several ways.

"James Bruggers' Vengeance on Vines" is 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 11, part of a weekly series of hands-on volunteer programs offered by the conservancy. Participants need to register through Eventbrite at cjky.it/vinevolunteer.

Vine tips:

• For vine growing up trees, cut them low and high. Cut as low as you can to the ground,  and then again at eye level.
• Apply a glyphosate herbicide on the lower cut, or be prepared to keep coming back to cut more. 
• Don't tug on the vines growing in trees. They'll die on their own and fall out without damaging the tree's limbs.
• Clip and pull out vines that are growing into and over shrubs.
• If the vine has overtopped the tree, you may need to hire an arborist to cut out the upper portions of the vine to allow in light.
• If the tree is in the public right of way in the city of Louisville, call MetroCall 311 and ask for a permit to cut the vines.
• You can also report trees in the public right of way that  are  threatened by vines to MetroCall 311. City officials will inspect them and talk to the property owner about removing them.
• Learn to identify poison ivy, which can be achallenge, and take precautions to protect yourself.
• Some of the most common vine threats in the Louisville area? Porcelain berry, "naughty but native" wild grapes,  winter creeper, Oriental bittersweet, English ivy, and Japanese honeysuckle. 

Source: Yew Dell Gardens, Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

If you go 

WHAT:  James Bruggers' Vengeance on Vines

WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 11

WHERE: Scenic Loop and Cochran Hill Road Cherokee Park

TO REGISTER: Participants need to register through Eventbrite at cjky.it/vinevolunteer.