Arby’s in South Knoxville, a viral kudzu post
Once thought a miracle cure for erosion, kudzu is thriving in the mountains whether we want it to or not.
We moved to Tennessee in 1990. At the time, we settled into a house in rural Blount County, not far from the Sevier County line. It was an immersive introduction to all things Volunteer State. The nearby farm bred and raised Tennessee Walking Horses while tobacco and hay grew in fields across from our tiny, one-lane country road. Our house was high on a bluff and as the valley dropped off down below, you could see on the front porch and take in a perfect view of the Smoky Mountains.
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But the most Tennessee thing in our neighborhood wasn’t the mountains or the horses. It wasn’t the ‘backer or the hay. It was the massive patch of Asian deciduous perennial vine that overtakes almost anything it touches and is nearly impossible to kill.
Friends, is there anything more Tennessee than kudzu? I don’t know. But there was a massive patch of it just down from my house that had taken over a patch of land somewhat smaller than a baseball infield. My uncle called it “the quagmire.”
What is kudzu?
Also known as East Asia arrowroot, kudzu is, simply put, the Terminator of the plant world. It’s a vine with large green leaves that embeds itself easily into the soil, spreading roots deep into the ground and sending runners that then take root and repeat the process. It is aggressive. Kudzu climbs and clings and smothers. It kills weaker plants by overtaking them, blocking their sunlight, and taking all the root space. Do you remember the old 50s Sci-Fi movie “The Blob?” Kudzu is like that but in vine form.
Kudzu is the hardest core plant there is. Oh, the Venus flytrap kills little bugs and insects? Kudzu devours hillsides. Put it this way, if you’re planning a horticultural battle royale, the smart money is on the kudzu.
But how did kudzu – which is an invasive plant in North America – get so big in Tennessee? Well, per an article from Purdue University, kudzu made its first appearance at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 where it promptly leaped forth from its exhibit and began devouring anything in sight, including a handful of small dogs and the orangutan exhibit. (I’m kidding about the last part).
Native to East and Southeast Asia, it was thought of as good for ground cover and began seeing use in the 1920s in America. In the 30s and 40s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted it as a way to stop soil erosion. Which, I suppose, works as long as you don’t want to use that soil for literally anything else because the kudzu is going to hold onto that soil, keep it right where it is, and kill anything else that tries to use it.
However, after a decade or two the soil conservation people turned their back on kudzu due to its propensity to take over large swaths of land and kill anything – including large trees – it could get its viney thorns on. In the ensuing decades, it has taken over the South – including Tennessee. It now exists in 32 states and a small part of Canada.
Welcome to Arby’s, do you want kudzu with that?
Why are we talking about kudzu? Well, a picture that goes viral every so often has gone viral again. It’s at the Arby’s on Chapman Highway in Knoxville, not far from the Tennessee River and the University of Tennessee. It’s a distinctive picture because it looks Photoshopped. Like somebody took a picture of an Arby’s – with the old-fashioned tall cowboy hat Arby’s sign – and dropped it over a photo of the jungles of Southeast Asia.
The thing is, it’s not Photoshop. It’s real and it’s spectacular. It’s weird by the way when something familiar from your life goes viral. I used to take Chapman Highway into Knoxville all the time. There was a great used CD and record shop just down the road called the Disc Exchange – and it’s not far from where Cas Walker famously buried that guy alive as a publicity stunt in 1960. I’ve eaten at that particular Arby’s a few times. I’ve marveled at that particular patch of kudzu for decades. I’m pretty sure that some time ago they found human remains – maybe.
Anyway, somebody got ahold of the photo of the Arby’s with its old-timey sign and massive kudzu growth. And the internet is going wild.
It sounds like kudzu’s pretty bad, are there any positives?
I mean, it looks kind of cool, and alien compared to the surrounding landscape. If you ever need to shoot a 60s-style Vietnam movie and don’t have the budget to go to Southeast Asia, you can always go back behind the Arby’s on Chapman Highway. Also, I’ve heard it’s edible. Though in fairness I’ve yet to hear of someone cooking up a mess of kudzu. Other than that? It’s pretty good for going viral I suppose.
Kudzu is also kind of pretty when it’s nice and green. It turns brown and “dies” in the winter, looking like the world’s biggest fire hazard. Speaking of fire, can you kill it? Certainly, with herbicides, you can. You can also burn it, but that doesn’t kill it. It just makes it mad. You’d have to go in and pull out all the root crowns that have developed and all the rooting runners that the plant uses to spread. Surely, no one has time to take out the entire root system. If you leave one of the crowns, the whole thing will grow back and will look at you funny every time you pass it.
A few years ago, the folks down in Chattanooga had an idea. They brought in goats and llamas to eat and graze on the plants. However, the practicality of mass goat and llama farms controlling kudzu across the South seems limited.
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