Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

Hi folks,

We have moved to a new house and have discovered a mature ornamental pear tree completely covered with ivy. The ivy is up into the crown and the pear is showing some signs of dead branches. The good news is there seems to be a good amount of new growth among the ivy in the crown.

I've decided the ivy is coming down and have been up into the tree to look for nesting birds/bats etc. but there are none. I've removed 70% of the ivy including some mature trunks (6 inches in diameter!) and hope to get the rest soon. The good thing is the trunk is now getting a lot of sunlight whereas before, the bark was completely covered.

Once I've cleared the ivy, do you recommend I consult an arboricultural expert to assess the general state of the tree?

Any other experience in this would be appreciated..

David.

Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

On 1/8/07 11:49, in article , "dz-015"
wrote:


Hi folks,

We have moved to a new house and have discovered a mature ornamental
pear tree completely covered with ivy. The ivy is up into the crown
and the pear is showing some signs of dead branches. The good news is
there seems to be a good amount of new growth among the ivy in the
crown.

I've decided the ivy is coming down and have been up into the tree to
look for nesting birds/bats etc. but there are none. I've removed 70%
of the ivy including some mature trunks (6 inches in diameter!) and
hope to get the rest soon. The good thing is the trunk is now getting
a lot of sunlight whereas before, the bark was completely covered.

Once I've cleared the ivy, do you recommend I consult an arboricultural
expert to assess the general state of the tree?

I'm prejudiced, so I'd certainly get an expert in if you think you can't
handle it yourself. These are such very beautiful trees when fully grown.
Can you confidently cut away any dead wood yourself? If you can, it may be
worth waiting until next spring to see how your tree responds to light and
air and not competing for water and food!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 1/8/07 11:49, in article , "dz-015"
wrote:


Hi folks,

We have moved to a new house and have discovered a mature ornamental
pear tree completely covered with ivy. The ivy is up into the crown
and the pear is showing some signs of dead branches. The good news is
there seems to be a good amount of new growth among the ivy in the
crown.

I've decided the ivy is coming down and have been up into the tree to
look for nesting birds/bats etc. but there are none. I've removed 70%
of the ivy including some mature trunks (6 inches in diameter!) and
hope to get the rest soon. The good thing is the trunk is now getting
a lot of sunlight whereas before, the bark was completely covered.

Once I've cleared the ivy, do you recommend I consult an arboricultural
expert to assess the general state of the tree?

I'm prejudiced, so I'd certainly get an expert in if you think you can't
handle it yourself. These are such very beautiful trees when fully grown.
Can you confidently cut away any dead wood yourself? If you can, it may
be
worth waiting until next spring to see how your tree responds to light and
air and not competing for water and food!

--
Sacha

We had an oak tree covered in ivy. It all originated from an ivy trunk
around 3 inched diameter, so I sawed it through last Summer. After a few
months the ivy was dead. This year the oak tree is looking a lot happier.
The dead ivy is still clinging to it, but is no longer choking it to death.
I thought I'd leave the ivy in-situ rather than trying to pull any off as it
would probably have damaged the bark. I'm sure it will weather and fall off
in it's own time over the next few years.

David.

Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 20:06:19 +0200, "David \(Normandy\)"
wrote:

We had an oak tree covered in ivy. It all originated from an ivy trunk
around 3 inched diameter, so I sawed it through last Summer. After a few
months the ivy was dead. This year the oak tree is looking a lot happier.
The dead ivy is still clinging to it, but is no longer choking it to death.
I thought I'd leave the ivy in-situ rather than trying to pull any off as it
would probably have damaged the bark. I'm sure it will weather and fall off
in it's own time over the next few years.

I think you will find it takes more than a "few years". It took about
20 years to fall off one of my neighbours house end.

Steve

Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

"Steve Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 20:06:19 +0200, "David \(Normandy\)"
wrote:

We had an oak tree covered in ivy. It all originated from an ivy trunk
around 3 inched diameter, so I sawed it through last Summer. After a few
months the ivy was dead. This year the oak tree is looking a lot happier.
The dead ivy is still clinging to it, but is no longer choking it to
death.
I thought I'd leave the ivy in-situ rather than trying to pull any off as
it
would probably have damaged the bark. I'm sure it will weather and fall
off
in it's own time over the next few years.

I think you will find it takes more than a "few years". It took about
20 years to fall off one of my neighbours house end.

Steve


I'm not in a hurry :-) and I think the oak will still be there long after
I'm dead.

David

Yes, its a beautiful tree and looks very old (the house was built in 1880). The trunk divides at about 6 feet and the bark is a light brown hue. I was up in the boughs again last night and cut back more of the ivy. I found a coil of rope up there - perhaps a child's swing from days gone by...The plan is to finish off the job on Saturday and fingers crossed that with the extra sunlight and improved soil nutrition now that the ivy is gone, the tree will begin to thrive again...

I'll let you all know how it goes.

David.

Mature ornamental pear - is it too late?
 

On 2/8/07 10:27, in article , "dz-015"
wrote:


Sacha;735783 Wrote:

I'm prejudiced, so I'd certainly get an expert in if you think you
can't
handle it yourself. These are such very beautiful trees when fully
grown.
Can you confidently cut away any dead wood yourself? If you can, it
may be
worth waiting until next spring to see how your tree responds to light
and
air and not competing for water and food!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Yes, its a beautiful tree and looks very old (the house was built in
1880). The trunk divides at about 6 feet and the bark is a light brown
hue. I was up in the boughs again last night and cut back more of the
ivy. I found a coil of rope up there - perhaps a child's swing from
days gone by...The plan is to finish off the job on Saturday and
fingers crossed that with the extra sunlight and improved soil
nutrition now that the ivy is gone, the tree will begin to thrive
again...

I'll let you all know how it goes.

I really do hope it survives and starts to look beautiful again. What a
great shame it was allowed to get into that state but it doesn't take long
for nature to take over!
There's a mature one in the churchyard in Totnes and it's a thing of great
beauty.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'