Removing English ivy can save the life of a tree

And the thousands it can cost to remove a dead tree

Becky Gillette – On Earth Day instead of planting a tree, arborist Chris Fischer demonstrated how to save the life of a tree by removing a section of English ivy covering a very large, old catalpa tree located on private property next to the Downtown Natives Pagoda Garden on First Street.

When you look around Eureka Springs, you find areas where hillsides and trees are covered with English ivy that can choke the trees making them unable to function, which can be fatal. That not only might cause the loss of a tree that may have been growing in Eureka Springs prior to the town being founded, but it can cost thousands of dollars in tree removal costs. It can also cause significant damage to buildings and property when the tree eventually falls.

The designation of how exotic or invasive plants rank is a local scenario based on the threat or injury it is posing. In Fayetteville, English ivy is considering one of 18 invasive plants to be restricted from landscape plans reviewed by the urban forester.

“In my take, the ivy is more prevalent here in our trees than any other organism,” Fischer said. “It is the number one plant that is harming mature standing trees. Ivy is a candidate for one of the worst invasive non-native plants in the state. The University of Arkansas master gardeners have included it in their top ten list.”

He likens a tree covered with ivy to someone wearing a turtleneck sweater in the summer. It slows down the metabolism of the tree by preventing the exchange of gases necessary to growth.

During the Earth Day demonstration, Fisher started by carefully using a chainsaw to cut three quarters of the way through thick ivy vines. He cautions this should only be done by someone with considerable prior experience with chainsaws as this is work that needs to be done carefully. Next he used a handsaw and loppers to cut through the rest of the vine without harming the bark.

The ivy is cut all the way around the tree, generally from the crown to shoulder height. A pry bar is used to remove ivy in that area, with careful attention to not injure bark and to sever vines at the base of the tree.

In the case of the catalpa tree Fischer was working on, with the help of one other person it took only about an hour to remove the section of ivy. You don’t want to totally remove the ivy all in one step as that can shock the tree and give it a sunburn. But the initial work is just the start.

“The fight is just beginning,” Fischer said. “You have to be vigilant to remove vines that will continue trying to grow up the tree.”

It is best to kill ivy before it gets to be a major problem. If the tree is heavily infested, as the ivy dies, it will shed large amounts of material. While that takes cleanup, it also lightens the load on the tree considerably, making it less prone to wind damage.

“This catalpa has probably ten cubic yards of biomass hanging in it,” he said. “That’s a lot of weight in growing tissue and water. When you sever the ivy roots, it will dry up and die. But it will take years for all the upper parts of the vines to dry off and disconnect from bark. That’s what needs to happen to reduce that weight and gravitation pull on limbs and upper canopy so wind, snow and ice can go through the tree without stressing it.”

Another reason to remove ivy is the negative impacts on wildlife.

“Ivy has no natural pests and no natural foragers,” Fischer said. “Deer, birds and insects don’t eat it. Exotic invasives take over when there is no natural competition and no natural management scenario.”

Another non-native Fischer says is nearly as damaging as English ivy is creeping euonymus (creeping winterberry). Like ivy, it is an evergreen that produces berries spread by birds. Both also crawl across the ground and propagate by root.

A third contender for the most damaging plant is Japanese honeysuckle.

“All three of those do damage to standing trees, but also limit the emergence of seedlings,” Fischer said. “They are a double dose of bad news. They prevent a diversity of other plants that provide food for butterflies, bees and other wildlife. Invasive ivy, euonymus and honeysuckle are turning landscapes into smothered monocultures reducing the inventory of contributing plant materials needed by wildlife. The argument behind this whole native plant movement is that invasive plants really represent a loss of habitat. When you have a pollinator friendly garden, you are not just giving them pollen, but food for the larval stage. You want not only pretty, fragrant flowers for bees and butterflies, but leaf biomass for insects to eat when they are caterpillars to reproduce. That is a radical concept to want insects to come in and ravage your garden flowers.”

One of the problems with ivy, euonymus and honeysuckle is that the city doesn’t collect vines for disposal because they can’t be shredded in a chipper. So what can be done with them? The Portland No Ivy League, which is working to remove invasive English ivy in Portland, Ore., recommends chopping it into pieces and mulching with it.

“But you have to make sure it doesn’t root back into the ground,” Fischer said. “The same thing is true of another common invasive plant, vinca, which roots on the ground readily. That is why some of these invasives are so successful.”

For more information, Fischer recommends Fayetteville’s invasive plant guide. For every invasive plant identified they recommend a removal process and alternative plants to consider.

Also on Earth Day, volunteers worked across the stairs from the ivy removal demonstration on the Downtown Native Pagoda garden. Hundreds of native plants are being established to help Eureka Springs with its commitment as the first city in Arkansas that “accepts the designation and commits to the standards of Bee City USA.” For more info, see the Eureka Springs Downtown Network’s Facebook page.