Guest Author - Nancy Hertzel
Since the number one contributing factor in the loss of our songbirds is habitat destruction, I want to write about that issue this week, and maybe next week, too. Every time I read about an upcoming rip-out-the-ivy work party, I think about my two beautiful English ivies in their pots on the kitchen window sill; I love the way their dark green leaves look against the wood and glass of the window. Can ivy really be so bad?
So I did some investigation. And yes (sigh), it really is that bad. When it's outside, that is.
Gardeners and homeowners have planted English ivy for years as an attractive, low-maintenance alternative to lawns; it is vigorous, relatively pest-free, cold-hardy, and requires little care. It also does not like to stay contained. When ivy spreads beyond its intended borders, as it inevitably does, it causes tremendous damage to all three zones of a plant community – the forest floor, the shrub layer and the canopy.
On the ground, it forms a thick mat which quickly smothers and kills other plants and shrubs. This tangled mat is not used by any of our native wildlife.
If there a tree nearby, the ivy then begins to climb. Ivy only reaches maturity and goes to seed after it has grown up a vertical surface, a fact that may be the driving force behind its vigorous climbing habit. As a climbing vine, it chokes and kills the tree branches one by one as it wraps around them and continues on up, blocking light from reaching the tree’s leaves. The tree itself is steadily weakened by the dying branches and by the sheer weight of the vines wrapped around it. The estimated weight of ivy removed from one tree in Olympic National Park was 2100 lbs. Look at this picture! Ivy.
There are no biological controls currently available for English ivy.
So if you have ivy in your yard, make sure it stays contained. You can do this; just go out, especially in the spring, and rip out suckers or climbers. If you don’t have ivy, don’t plant any.
