Is Carolina Jasmine Aggressive?

Growth Characteristics

• Once its roots are established, the Carolina jessamine does grow quickly during the warmth of spring and summer. Moist, well-drained, acidic and organic-rich soils promote the lushest, fastest growth. Drier, sandy soils that lack organic matter stunt the vine's growth rate. If there's nothing to climb over, it'll form a tangled mess of vines that pile atop each other or sprawl like a groundcover. Otherwise, the vines twirl and knot themselves up and over fences, trellises, arbors and nearby shrubs and tree trunks in an effort to bask in sunlight.

Competition

• Compared to most other garden plants, Carolina jessamine grows more aggressively, but it does not produce lots of seeds to take over a landscape, unlike noxious weedy vines such as Asian honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) or Asian wisteria (Wisteria japonica and W. floribunda). A healthy-growing Carolina jessamine will spread over anything in its general proximity; each vine matures 12 to 20 feet long. The problem arises when the dense stem and leaf canopy of the jessamine smothers out light from other plants it grows over. This weakens the underlying plants, stopping photosynthesis to eventually kill them if they cannot make enough food.

Management

• Carolina jessamine plants grown with specific parameters -- on a large fence or tall arbor trellis -- may be trained and pruned to ensure the vines grow only on the support structure. Plants allowed to grow on the edge of woodlands or in an overcrowded garden bed pose the greatest threat to becoming huge and gangle, covering other objects out of control. After the flowering season ends in spring, trim back the jessamine to a main framework structure of stems that coincide with the support structure. Trim out overcrowded side branches or reduce stem length back to 4 to 6 inches, each with one or two growth buds or a few leaves. Any errant vines may be trimmed back any time of year if they pose a safety hazard, such as blocking a view or creating a tripping hazard.

Recommendations

• If you are short on space, or do not have a trellis, fence, arbor or other support structure that is at least 10 feet tall, Carolina jessamine is not the best choice of flowering vine. Although numerous cultivars of this species are available at nurseries in the United States, all mature in the 10- to 20-foot-tall range. Ideal growing conditions and lack of any pruning will lead to a tangle of vines. Carolina jessamine will readily climb up a utility pole and the sprawling vine branch ends horizontally to dangle down from the wires. Perhaps its best application is to prevent erosion on steep banks where it can ramble over rocks and create a green backdrop out of the way of other plants and structures.