Ivy on trees

[Dom Tuk]

Lots of trees seem to have Ivy on them in vast amounts. The dead ones definetly do. Does Ivy eventually cause death of trees. Is it a problem that we have not woken up to yet.

[smudge]

We have an Elder tree in our garden, which has Ivy growing up & around it. There's no sign of it dying - yet. It thrives every year & always needs a good prune.

[lukey121]

Yes ivy does kill trees, and it seems to be taking over most of the trees in our countryside. It will be very sad when there are no leafs on trees only ivy.

[boosey2]

The ivy that kills trees is called a vine ivy/ grape ivy which has small dark purple berries on it, this type will kill a tree unlike the normal ivy.  It gets little roots off its stems and gets its water from the tree trunk in this way.

[RATTER15]

Generally speaking the biggest problem with ivy growing on trees is the sail effect, this is when the crown of the tree becomes so dense with ivy that the wind cannot pass through, like a sail, this often causes the tree to blow over in high wind. The best way to kill the ivy on a tree is with a small saw and just go around the base of the tree and sever the ivy, it will all turn brown in a couple of weeks and the ivy can then be removed if required.