" writes
On Jun 2, 10:33 am, "David \(Normandy\)"
wrote:

I know nothing about birds I'm afraid but I too have a house covered
in Virginia Creeper. We have it trimmed once a year usually around
March before the new growth gets going. Don't try and pull it out
from under your tiles after trimming, just leave it there it will die.

Last year we didn't have ours trimmed and it went up under gutters
etc., but we waited until all the birds had left the multiple nest,
around July in our case and thengave it a metre trim, it doesn't harm
it when you trim it.

This year we paid for a man to come in as our house is pretty high and
being a professional, it looked great afterwards, he took it down
about a metre and a half, he says it will reach the gutters by the end
of the season so it needs to be done every year.

If he's only taken it down a metre and a half, it'll be at the gutters
by mid June! ;-)

I decided mine was too much for me to manage - cutting it to about 6ft
still had it at the eaves by the end of the season - so sadly I've had
to remove it all.

I've now come to the same conclusion about variegated ivy and Clematis
montana - it is amazing the amount of growth things can put on once
they've got their roots well and truly dug in.
--
Kay