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

In article ],
Another John wrote:

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?

No.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ],
Another John wrote:

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?

No.


I agree I cut through loads when we first bough this house, it all died.
But, 11 years later dead ivy is still falling from high up in the trees.

Mike

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.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

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.

In article ,
David Hill wrote:

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?

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.

Sure David - I am acutely aware of the beneficial effects. However we're
talking "balance of nature" here, and I want to restore some of the
balance lost when agricultural workers left the land. [1]

John

[1] Most of them for the cities, and the rest, for their tractor cabs! I
don't begrudge them their tractors one whit, in particular as their
numbers are a tiny fraction of what they used to be. However there are a
million small jobs that used to be done on the land which now never even
get considered: keeping the ivy off major trees is one such. And there's
***plenty*** of ivy elsewhere, by golly!

On 05/05/2014 22:11, Another John wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

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?

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.

Sure David - I am acutely aware of the beneficial effects. However we're
talking "balance of nature" here, and I want to restore some of the
balance lost when agricultural workers left the land. [1]

John

[1] Most of them for the cities, and the rest, for their tractor cabs! I
don't begrudge them their tractors one whit, in particular as their
numbers are a tiny fraction of what they used to be. However there are a
million small jobs that used to be done on the land which now never even
get considered: keeping the ivy off major trees is one such. And there's
***plenty*** of ivy elsewhere, by golly!


You might find this item of interest
http://www.arborecology.co.uk/article_forf.htm

On 05/05/2014 22:49, David Hill wrote:
On 05/05/2014 22:11, Another John wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

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?

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.

You might find this item of interest
http://www.arborecology.co.uk/article_forf.htm

An interesting article, although it doesn't mention ivy on conifers.

Although I would never expect ivy to act like a strangler fig, I
sometimes wonder if excessive coverage inhibits tree growth. Also, does
it weaken the wood or strengthen it? Old ivy "wood" seems quite tough
to me, requiring several strikes with an axe to sever it. So does it add
support to a tree, and if so does the tree react by not needing to
llignify quite to much to support its own weight? Or is the ivy just
added weight, so the tree then needs additional lignification to support
the weight of the ivy as well as its own weight?

--

Jeff