On 05/05/2014 20:25, Spider wrote:
On 05/05/2014 19:26, Another John wrote:
I'd like to kill off the ivy on a very large, old ash tree, in the hope
of preventing it becoming overly festooned with the damned stuff [like
so many mature trees, around here].

So, I've cut the ivy climbers up the trunk (and left a large gap between
two cuts on each climber), and will keep an eye out to prevent new ones
growing.

My question: is there any truth in the old saw that ivy, once securely
established on a tree, will become genuinely parasitic, and will draw
sustenance from the tree itself?

Cheers
John




None at all. The greatest danger is that the ivy will increase windage
on the tree and may cause its downfall during gales, esp. following wet
weather.

On the other hand tie ivy was providing shelter and food for a number of
birds and insects
•Holly blue caterpillar feeds on the flowers buds.
•Wasps, hornets, hoverflies, bumblebees, red admirals, small
tortoiseshells and peacock butterflies, and other late-flying insects,
drink the nectar.
•Many birds, such as blackbirds and thrushes, eat the berries.