Ivy

[tracy]

Friend or Foe?

Most would say Friend I guess... except when it pulls trees down over the roads!

http://www.chilternsaonb.org/downloads/ivy.pdf

Then again, what happens if it starts to take over most of the wood? I know one woodland where the ivy is slowly creeping its way down, does this become a problem? One person has advised us to try to stop it from taking over....

[Binz]

Friend, and a misunderstood one. I used to do work with a conservation group that had big problems with people attacking ivy. A tree is normally strong enough to support ivy (unless the tree is dead or in poor health) so let it be. It is a great source of cover and food for all sorts of wildlife and especially valuable in winter.

B

[tracy]

Yes, it has many great qualities!

I have just read an interesting article on ivy, in the Woodland Heritage magazine. The short version of the article is that when the ivy gets so big - grows over the canopy of the tree, in this case, Oak, the tree will no longer be able to photosynthesise easily. Oak can, however, remain standing a long time - even after it is dead.

A good magazine btw!

http://www.woodlandheritage.org.uk/index.php