We need trees for all sorts of reasons – they clean dust from the air and make the oxygen we breathe. They cheer us up in spring and shelter our homes in the winter. They are good for our souls, as well as producing valuable timber, fruit, medicine and fibres – I could go on.
Ivy needs trees too, and Audrey needs to know that it does not and cannot kill trees. I’m delighted that my fellow horticultural and ecological professionals at Environment could help with her inquiry and that they too reassured her that, far from being a ‘cancer’ as she put it, ivy is a vital part of woodland eco-systems.
But please don’t take my word for this, there is now lots of information available such as this:
‘Another feature of woods that many people try to control is ivy on trees. Contrary to popular belief, ivy does not strangle or damage trees, and should be left on the trees to provide nest sites, winter shelter and food for birds and insects.’
That’s from the excellent text, ‘So you own a woodland?’ a beginner’s guide by the Forestry Commission available to download for free – it’s well worth a read.
There was a time when everyone knew that the sun rose in the east, set in the west and travelled through the underworld to re-emerge all perky and refreshed each morning to travel around the earth again, beaming on everyone.
It was obvious, you could see it with your own eyes. Everyone also knew that the world was flat – it was just so obvious.
Ivy killing trees falls into that category of myth, and is also not supported by the evidence. It does a great deal of good in the woodland, so please let it be and save yourself the hassle and the distress.
Now, if you remove ivy because you just don’t like the look of it, that’s up to you, but please don’t try to justify your actions because of any ‘harm’ done to trees. I have seen people kill trees with chainsaws when cutting off ivy – about a dozen fine 80-year-old trees in a hedge in Trinity to be precise. A terrible waste and all for nothing.
If ivy killed trees there wouldn’t be any trees left. Removing it does more harm than good. Nature knows best and is working absolutely perfectly, just so long as we don’t interfere.
