Continuing the discussion from Weird and Strange Animal Myths : [image] Weird and Strange Animal Myths “Ivy kills trees.” Wait, ivy doesn’t kill trees? I always thought it would eventually if it overtakes a tree.

Absolutely not!!! Ivy just uses the tree as a support and while it does so, provides a home and source of food for hundreds of other life forms. If the tree is already in bad conditions due to age, disease or environmental stress, it may give the impression that the ivy is the cause as ivy leaves wi…

Unfortunately this myth is spread by still many ignorant people who, mostly in good faith, think that cutting the ivy trunks would be good for the woods. They even do not know that the event of the fall of a tree in a wood is not a tragedy but just part of its normal turnover. Where the genus Hedera…

Thank you so much for this, you’re saving me from a really stupid decision and, well, to be honest, a lot of effort. Is there no risk of the ivy competing with the tree for light and weakening it, then? [DSC_0074] When I see my apple tree, which is old and not that healthy in a garden that stood…

I’m guessing it depends on where you are and whether the trees in your area co-evolved with ivy or not. Here in the US, it is one of our worst invasives and will smother native vegetation where it takes over. I’ve seen places where the ground was just mono-culture of ivy, no chance for native plants…

yeah in California in the US, where English ivy is invasive, it absolutely kills trees. Same with oriental bittersweet in the Northeast and Kudzu and again ivy in the Southeast US. It does not surprise me at all that in its native habitat it does not kill trees or otherwise is just part of the ecosy…

[image] annkatrinrose: I always wonder what would happen in a competition between ivy and kudzu, another of our really aggressive invasive climbers. I’ve heard in the long run ivy wins even though it doesn’t grow quite as fast, because ivy is shade tolerant and kudzu is not. But in very distu…

Yes, kudzu is edible - there are recipes for it on the internet. Part of its competitive edge is that it is a legume complete with nitrogen-fixing symbionts, so I’m guessing it might do better in open areas and on poor soil. It does not need trees to climb - I’ve seen entire hillsides just covered i…

If the tree trunk is weak and there is a large weight of ivy in the canopy, that can bring the tree down, especially in winter gales when the tree will have little wind resistance because it has lost its leaves but the ivy is permanently in leaf catching the wind. As someone said earlier, that is a …

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Yeah, I think it is different here in the US. Trees really seem to struggle under the weight of ivy. It’s been suggested by someone in forestry who came by to remove another invasive (garlic mustard) to cut the vine at the base but leave the ivy itself on the tre…

Ivy killing trees is a myth?!?

Nature Talk

Chipcheck November 3, 2022, 1:14am 1

Continuing the discussion from Weird and Strange Animal Myths:

Wait, ivy doesn’t kill trees? I always thought it would eventually if it overtakes a tree.

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Ivy killing trees is a myth?!?

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