Deer prevention

[Leon Fisk]

I haven't seen any serious problems with English Ivy around here but grapevines and poison ivy are another story.

What happens is they eventually weaken the tree via shading, competition for moisture and at the same time put quite a bit extra weight load on the tree skeleton/structure. Now when a good wind comes up they get blown over due to the extra wind loading, weight and weakening to the trees ability to support itself and vine.

[symplastless]

The tree would form response wood over time to make up for the weight of vines. Trees can adjust and adapt in certain cases put material where it is required for mechanical optimization. There is a strangler ficus tree in the tropical's that grows around a tree and when the tree symplast dies and the tree is decomposed with the help of the succession of microorganisms, it then remains with a hollow tube on the inside.

[Leon Fisk]

The vines growth rate is much too fast for the tree to keep up. In the time it takes for the tree to grow a few inches the vine has grown many feet.

If the growth rates were matched the tree might have a chance.

[dr-solo]

English ivy cultivars are excellent accent plants in containers, plain old English ivy is not the most desirable landscape plant. Some of its problems include damage to structures from rootlets, creating refuge areas for pests (undesirable insects and rodents), and invasion into natural areas where it displaces native vegetation. English ivy is also poisonous. The cell sap causes severe skin irritation and the berries and leaves are toxic if ingested.

English ivy can also damage trees when it climbs the trunk and competes for water, nutrients, and light. Ivy climbing trees should be carefully removed to avoid damage to the tree trunk and cleared away from the soil at the base of the tree. This is not as easy as it sounds because ivy roots can become closely intertwined with the tree roots. I suggest clearing ivy away from the trunk for at least a three foot distance.

[dr-solo]