ivy on a tree your thoughts ??

[coffeecraver]

English Ivy's Adverse Impacts on Trees


Ivy competes with the trees, especially seedlings, for water and nutrients.
Ivy vines eventually grow into a dense cover on the bark of the tree's trunk. depriving the bark of the normal contact with air and micro-organisms.
Ivy vines grow to a very large size - often four or more inches in 30 or less years - and have a very high water content thus add considerable weight to the tree making it more susceptible to toppling and blow-down.
The stiff, waxy characteristics of Ivy leaves hold water, ice, and snow which also add to weight and exacerbate conditions leading to toppling and blow-down.
Mature Ivy grows in spiral pattern as opposed to the horizontal-vertical pattern of the immature plant thus it 'furls' out around the branches and trunk further reducing the ability of the tree to perform photo-synthesis.
When Ivy grows up the tree seeking the light it needs to mature and propagate, it eventually covers the apical stem or apex of the tree. The tree reacts as if it has been topped: experiencing biologic stress and sending messages of its distress out to the types of micro-organisms whose purpose is to hasten the demise of the tree.
The Ivy growing around the tree has supplanted the deciduous plants which have a growth and decay cycle that replenishes the nutrients in the soil.

[ORclimber]

English ivy is a problem for trees here and needs to be kept off the tree on a regular basis. It shades out limbs and the extra weight isn't good. I don't think the English ivy girdles the trunks as bad as some other kinds of ivy.

[NeTree]

Too much can be a problem, but a limited amount is very pleasing to the eye, I think.

[geofore]

In this area we deal with ivys and others. English, Virginia climber, Poison and Chocolate. Then there is the mile a miniute, Wild grape and Honey suckle. I don't see mistletoe that often here.
I did leave a tree job unfinished in Germany when I was there, an 82' pine that had English ivy up 74' in the tree the entire trunk ABH was covered with interlacing English ivy vines to the point you could not see the bark of the tree. To me this is a job to put the pruner/pole saw to the test. No tree has to come down but they do need trimmed. The ownner's Father used to take care of the trees but he has past away some years back. There is no need for power tools to do this job but you need to be in shape to do this one. I looked around the yard and see the Wisperia is pulling the rails off the second story of the house and the ownner told me the town was on her to remove the cedar that hangs over the street. None of this requires power tools to do but it will take a day of hand saw and pruner to do. Then you still need ropes and to wear the PPE to do the climbing. It's been years since I've done a job without power tools but I look forward to going back to do this with hand tools, everything needs to be trimmed back to the way her dad used to keep the place. A quiet day or two working on trees.
You don't always have to reach for the power tools to do tree work but you do need to wear your PPE to be safely tied into your work.
The whole reason to look at the trees was the homeownner wanted to do something other than to have them taken down which the ivy will do in a few years left on it's own.

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by geofore
the town was on her to remove the cedar that hangs over the street.

I'll bet the town will settle for pruning so it leans less.

[Guy Meilleur]

Reducing branches make sthe tree lean much less even when the trunk does not move. But I know you mean trunk not tree...

Just pruned a pecan today-- trunk y'ed at 5 feet. reduced many branches' trunk moved maybe 5 degrees toward vertical. I've seen younger ones move 10 degrees or more.

Now the addition can be buile under it safely. Removal was never considered.

[geofore]

I only stay one month at a time. I'll remove the English ivy to the ground and let it start over figuring it will take years to get back to 74'. How fast does the English ivy grow back? The town will be happy if the cedar is trimmed so it has no limbs on the street side (that would kill it), I hope they will go with no limbs lower than 5 meters on the street side (it will look ugly but not gone). Otherwise it may have to come out. The wisperia will look devistated after the trim but they grow back very fast. She would be better off to have it removed but folks get attached to their plants and can't let go. Do you ever hear,"It looks so nice when it blooms, leave it."? A yearly trim is needed, some do it twice a year on the wisperia. Once to get large blooms and the second to control growth. Rocky, I probably should have cut the ivy when I looked at it, it would've made removing it easier when I go back. The tree has withstood wind gusts past 75 mph. but with all that ivy how long before it is too much load?

[John Paul Sanborn]

Here too the only real woody perrenial vine is the wild grape. We usually do a basal prune and then let it sit for a year or so, then the woody stuff comes out of the canopy better.

On many land clearings it has overgrown the buckthorn so bad that you have to dice everything into small peices if you dont have a loader and big infeed shute. I would love to use a HydroStumpre on that stuff.

Most other vines out in the wld will freeze back as an herbaciouse perenial. What PI does live is low growing.

[Sylvatica]

The biggest problem I encounter with English ivy is on the ground.
It makes a cover/habitat for mice and voles, and they then damage the trees and shrubs at the flare and basal trunk.