vines

[treebing]

I have a customer who has a row of whit and scots pine that are 75 percent covered with english ivy as well as some virginia creeper.

What, in your experience is the effect that vines have on the overall health of the tree. These vines in particular provide a nice privacy from the adjacent apartment building parking lot, yet some of the smaller white pines have been completely submerged.

One of the scots pines is very unhealthy in part to borers.

I have seen vines, especially bittersweet, girdle smaller diameter branches, becoming ingrown.

Can vines such as english ivy cause the tree to stress? what should I tell this woman, who is very fond of the vines. And I agree with her, they are nice, im just worried they are making life more difficult for the pines.

 

[treehumper]

reaction wood. It's a debate that vines are bad. They can load up tree and become pretty unwieldy. The going thought is they are detrimental but can't say I agree with that completely. English ivy can be readily control so as not to grow as far into the crown as bitterweet, wild grape, or posion ivy. If the trees appear health and the vines are providing her the screening she desires then I'd tell her only to manage the height to which they are allowed to reach.

 

[treebing]

she likes the whole vine effect. The vines are well into the canopy, should they be brought down lower? controled a little? It would also be pretty expensive to do because it would be pretty time consuming even to prune them back down the trunk. She is fairly open to what I say, but Im kind of torn on what to recomend.

 

[Colin]

down here ivy kills trees. the vines suck up the moisture and sunlight and the roots have compete over minerals and moisture with the covering on the ground. i took down a tree that was covered in the junk. it was dead as a doornail, when we asked the homeowner how long the tree had been dead, she said "well, i planted the ivy on it three years ago." the whole tree was covered. there is a bar in memphis called newbys they have a patio with a couple small (20') well established trees growing. the owner todd decided that he liked the look of the ivy and planted some on a 25' tulip poplar. bad idea the tree was dead in 18 months. imho, from what I've seen in my climate ivy is terrible for trees.

 

[Dan_Watkins]

If the vines are completely covering the trees, the trees will not be able to undergo photosynthesis and they will die. If you could selectively take out some of the vines annually so that both the tree and vine can grow, that might be your best bet.

 

[Blinky]

I can't say exactly why but English ivy stresses large mature pines around here and they die from whatever opportunistic pathogen that happens to invade them. Rough on Tulip trees too.

I girdle a 4' section of the ivy, let it die and pull most of it down a month or so later.

It's worth mentioning that I was bitten by a brown recluse climbing an ivy covered pine... after I killed the three wasp nests.

 

[guymayor]

[ QUOTE ]
she likes the whole vine effect. The vines are well into the canopy, should they be brought down lower?

[/ QUOTE ]Yes that is all there is to it; clip em back every few years. You COULD pull the vines off the branches and let em hang to give the client more of that desired effect in key sight lines.

Yes they can compete for water and nutrients--so irrigate and fertilize! English ivy does not twine around/strangle stems.

 

[1bigtree]

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.
Yes, I have seen ivy cause some issues not ony with competition for h2o and nutrients but also with moisture issues around the root collar. I don't think Ivy, (english or baltic)is as invasive as it is in the south; so I wouldn't think it would flat out "kill" a tree in michigan. I do know that stuff can be the plague down south.
I would probably recomend "ringing" the Ivy at the desired height of screening. Carefuly cutting a gap 1-2" in the vines and allow the upper portion to die. The only problem with this is that it may look a little unsitely for a while. You will have to prune them again but this can be a + for you. Removing established vines (in my experience) is more headache than its worth.
Good luck, Be safe

 

[easyphloem]

[ QUOTE ]


I girdle a 4' section of the ivy, let it die and pull most of it down a month or so later.


[/ QUOTE ]


If it's English Ivy, that stuff will even fall off by itself in about a year and a half.



SZ

 

[southsoundtree]

let them die for a long time and they will peel/ break off readily. A lot of little material to handle.

 

[JSN]

Vines have their place if you keep up with it. Have you ever heard of the Cutzou vine (sp.) that is eating the South!! The vine is covering the forest canopy an killing them. I use this example for vines if not kept up with.

 

[Colin]

they brought that crap in from japan to "fix" the erosion problems. that crap has taken over. and you can't kill it. the only thing i've seen tear it up is goats and a bull dozer taking the top 2 inches of soil off and i've still seen some come back up.

 

[Colin]

i think the corp of engineers thought it up! there were protesters then too. they should think about the past on this levee thing. sorry about the derail

 

[treebing]

Kudzu is very edible, the roots are as big as a cow and full of carbs, I guess they taste pretty good. The leaves are great nutritious fodder for animals. Maybe we should just incorporate it into our diet. I found that out at a little diner in N.C. that had a cool book called "110 kudzu recipes" or something like that.

 

[Paul Biester]

Well that just about covers it!! Im not a huge fan of ivy.Around here i have seen both situations . Some so bad you can see the effects.Other times not so bad. Like most things we encounter its a judgement call. Yes?

 

[CHOPPER]

Got to admit i am surprised with the positve feedback to this dilema...
Vines in trees are no good!
Councils should fine tree owners with vines in their trees!
I hate vines in trees especially Bougainvillia!

 

[guymayor]

[ QUOTE ]

Vines in trees are no good!

[/ QUOTE ]Minds are like doors...

 

[bearinatree]

THe poison ivy down here is incredible it just keeps growing and growing. I hate poison ivy.

 

[BostonBull]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Vines in trees are no good!

[/ QUOTE ]Minds are like doors...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hahaha!

why are vines NO good? I see plenty of vines that have symbiotic relationships with trees.

 

[Toparboring]

Vines on trees yeah some choke the tree out and kill the tree eventually.Now vines on buildings NOT GOOD may look cool but really no good . On the campus it is an Ivy league so, tadaa ivy on 90% of the buildings. Now you are thinking wow nice old looking buildings fits into the landscape,wrong last year we cut back about 2 years worth of growth(6 ft depending on what speicies of vine). Up on a ladder pulling ivy and watching chunks of mortor pop out and drop with the ivy. On the last section of a corner peice I pulled off and stopped work as the section of block moved. The ivy basically sucks the water out of the mortor,and do to this section actually was ripping the building apart. Well the local mason shop was happy, i found out the total cost was around 15,000 to repair the damage.