Hello,
I just inherited some property in Asheville NC.
There's a nice wooded area in my back yard but it has always had Ivy.
I see that two trees are completely dead so I'm researching a plan on how to manage it.
I don't mind the look of it but I'm learning that it can be harmful.
I'm thinking about cutting the vines on the hardwood trees and letting it stay on the pines (because I don't really like pines)
Any advice appreciated (pics attached)
by crew4545
5 Comments
Go around the base and clip about 6″ sections of the Ivy all the way around. Let the ivy die naturally and rot away. Take care in case it’s poison ivy (gloves, bag it, don’t burn it).
Dead trees that aren’t a hazard to people or structures are OK in my book, nature needs dead trees.
Just don’t try and pull the ivy down, that could cause additional problems for you.
Just start cutting them at the base, don’t worry about getting them down, allow decomposition to do that for you and hope they won’t allow excess moisture to build in the canopy. I’d keep an eye out for new growth before it starts to climb
English ivy can only flower and fruit when it’s climbed something. Leaving it on your pines to do so will result in it creating lots of fruit for the birds to help continue the invasion and- this is only my opinion/personal observation- it seems ivy ground assault gains traction when it is also allowed to climb trees. I’ve seen people recommend the five foot rule where you cut at the base and five feet up the trunk. Also attempt to clear the vines away from the base of the tree as much as you can as they’ll attempt to get right back up there if you don’t.
Don’t purposely leave any of it. My yard is overrun by this stuff. I’ve given up trying to control it. I just take one weekend a year and trim as much as I can on the ground and cut all the ones growing up the trees. It has completely taken over the soil around the trees at this point. If I was to pull it all up I’d probably do more damage to the tree’s roots.
Leaving *any* of it can have an effect far beyond your property as the seeds will be spread.
This plant is so damaging to our ecosystems that there’s basically a moral imperative to remove it. “Window cut” the vines on your trees as suggested by others, but you’ll also want to pull as much as you can that has spread on the ground, and treat any stumps left after you cut the vines with something to kill the roots.