Does ivy on a tree hurt it?

Re: Does ivy on a tree hurt it?

Kevin French

It should be fine until it gets into the crown.

Re: Does ivy on a tree hurt it?

Hank Knight

Ivy doesn't hurt the tree directly. As it proliferates, however, it makes the tree more vulnerable to wind and is often responsible for blow-downs of otherwise healthy trees.. We have two trees in our yard that have old growth ivy in them. We have the arborist come and cut the ivy 8 to 10 feet up the trunk every couple of years to keep the wind profile in check.

Hear Hank and...

Tom dunlap

..the effect of ivy comes if the ivy foliage screens the tree leaves. Another issue is weight. Partly the weight of the vines but a bigger issue is how much rain weight adds if the ivy is leafed out

Bill, in your area you may have wisteria. That will choke a tree like a tourniquet and outright kill a tree. Or, you get lucky and it only constricts

As an arborist my mantra is:

Cut vines

Chip vines

Watch out for poison ivy in there too!

Tom

Re: Hear Hank and...

Barry Irby

Tom is an arborist and knows whereof he speaks.

Look at this another way. Do you care about the tree? The ivy is not beneficial to the tree. Could the tree fall on your house? Ivy might contribute to the fall.

I threw some ivy into the woods behind my house and years later realized it had survived and was climbing a couple of oaks. I cut it off at ground level. I am reluctant to poison it as the poison might also affect the tree. Ivy is difficult to poison and if I tried I would have to use some potent stuff. I will just keep ripping it back. Only takes a few minutes to thwart it for a season.

Grape vines are bad

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I have cut hundreds out of the trees in our woodlands. They run to the top of the tree and pull the top down. Eventually they make a sail and the whole tree blows over. Especially bad to have them in yellow poplar.

Re: Does ivy on a tree hurt it?

John McGaw

It certainly can't help it. Among other things it adds weight but no strength, it adds surface area increasing wind forces, and it traps moisture next to the bark which might aggravate fungus and rot.

Re: Hear Hank and...herbicide

Tom dunlap

With care there's no reason to worry about herbicide going from the ivy to the tree. They don't share vascular systems

If vine cutting is routine there's a simple procedure for using your chosen herbicide to kill the roots. Of course digging out the roots works but can be a daunting task. Get a guality spray bottle and good chemical proof gloves. Mix the herbicide to the correct ratio on the label. Add in dye. A tiny bit of cloth dye works. I've heard of people using grape or cherry Kool Aid too. As soon as possible after cutting the vines put on your gloves and spray the freshly cut ends

Anyone who knows The Little Prince knows that you have to deal with your Baobabs routinely and when they're small or you will

Have trouble

Get rid of the Ivy but please give natives thought

Keith Newton

I have friends that are serious birders, even a Ph.D. ornithologist that are some of the most incredible naturalist that I know. Ive attended some of their programs including one presentation by Douglas W. Tallamy, author of "Bringing Nature Home" Where Doug shows the connection between our "Native" plant species and the insects they host, and the birds that we all enjoy seeing.

I believe I've read that each year, we in the USA are loosing 4% of our total bird numbers annually. Some species more, some less, but think about that number or 40% in ten years if the number 4 seems low or acceptable. Some of us want to poison every insect we find on out property, or better yet, choose an exotic plant that is to toxic to all the insects in our locality. If you kill all your insects, you starve all the birds that feed on those insects.

The same is true for the seed and berry eaters. If you kill or replace all the indigenous vines and bushes, there goes that type of bird. And the same is beginning to become apparent with butterflies as well. Each butterfly or moth may have only one or two plants which host their larva, so If you eliminate those, there won't be any butterflies laying their eggs on whatever you replace them with. Caterpillars by the way is probably the favorite insect form that birds feed their nestlings.

One thing is for sure, If you don't like using poison to control the insects you have now, you're surly going to need a lot more of it if we loose the birds that feed on them. The only vines I see killing the trees they climb on and smother in my area, are invasive like Kudzu and Wisteria native to China. I have to cut the Wisteria vines in my back fencerow at the shop every year or two, and several times a year to keep it from shorting my power up at the transformers. It killed a really large Elm in by backdoor neighbors yard, and has smothered the top half of a large Arborvitae in the next block.

I'm in the woods most weekends all year long, and climb probably 30 trees a year while archery hunting. I've seen some pretty large wild grape vines, but never noticed that they smothered the trees they were on. I'll have to pay closer attention to that in the future though.

Re: Get rid of the Ivy but please give natives tho

Hank Knight

Diminishing habitat is a multi faceted problem. One surprising contributor is non-native trees. More often than not, people replace native trees with exotics, trees that are not native to the area. Native trees sponsor and support as many as 40 to 60 species of insects and plants that are food sources native birds and animals. The typical non-native replacement tree may support 2 or 3. It's hard to get people to replant native trees one their property. They are boring - we see them everywhere; they'er not particularly interesting, An exotic or non-native variety, on the other hand, is unique and fun. Municipalities plants tons of exotics in our public spaces for the same reasons. The effect of planting an exotic goes unnoticed until a few years down the line when one might comment, "You know, I haven't seen as many mockingbirds, grosbeaks or redheaded woodpeckers as I used to see when I was a kid. Wonder where they went."

grapes

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Much of the timberland around here was farm land in the early 1900's that has reverted to timber. Grapes seeded in this regrowth and any following reforestation. If not controlled they will delay reforestration by decades by smothering young trees. When fast growing tress finally get above this mess the grapes follow them up the trunk. The last timberland we bought has about 10 acres of heavy grape infestation and many of the poplar have the top pulled out and most of the timber on the ground got toppled when the wind got in a tree with a canopy of grape. I have cut hundreds of these vines off the trees.

The State forester told me, "if you want to grow turkeys and grouse leave the grapes. If you want timber, be rid of them." Anyone is welcome to cut grape vines with me any time and they can become more acquainted with this choice.

Attacking mother nature

John K Jordan

I cut wild grape, honeysuckle, and poison ivy vines when I come across them in the woods. I use an machete. Some of the grape and poison ivy vines have been over 3" in diameter near the ground.

Poison ivy will climb a dead tree and send out horizontal branches so the tree looks green from a distance (until it decays enough to fall).

The honeysuckle does make interesting twisted sticks favored by walking stick and rustic furniture makers and smells great when in bloom but I still cut it when it starts to choke - the animals love to eat it and the vines are good for crafts.

I also fight privet and bush honeysuckle, mostly with the tractor or bobcat, dig them up by the roors. Death to privet. The only other growing thing I always attack is ailanthus. I've not tried herbicide on any of these invasives.

JKJ

JKJ