Ivy on a silver birch

[ErrolTheDragon]

I've foolishly failed to notice the incursion of Ivy up my silver birch...

Now I'm unsure whether to sever it all at the bottom, and hope it dies and can be removed/drops off (some of it is too high to reach). Or just leave it. Or ...is there any other option? I don't know if it will have spoilt the bark underneath it forever.

There's a patch of woodland I walk through fairly often, and there are a number of attractive silver birches with ivy growing up them. I attack the stuff fairly regularly!

Just sever it all at ground level, and (with the assistance of a flat-bladed knife) slide a blade underneath the bits you can, with a bit of leverage, prise it away from the trunk. Then you can grip it and pull away upwards and it does come off. Whatever you can't remove just leave, and as the tree expands with age it will drop off of its own accord.

Yes, sever it at the bottom and peel away what you can above as it starts to die.

Bloody ivy. It is my nemesis. I hate seeing all the trees in local woodland that it is choking to death.

Ivy is good for nature in the right place (nesting birds, food for bees late in the season) but I don't think my silver birch is it! I need to tackle the excess on my fences too - I like some green cover but I'm bad at getting it in check before the blackbirds start inhabiting it in early spring.

Cut it at the base of the tree and it'll die off. If you leave it it will eventually weaken the tree.

I thought ivy would kill a tree but not according to the Woodland Trust. Which is why I've left the stuff growing up my cherry tree. I have confidence in the advice from WT but experience counts for something so I'm interested to know if anyone has seen a tree suffer from being covered in ivy.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/ivy/

I don't think it kills the host tree except perhaps by sheer weight! But it's spoiling the look of the lovely white trunk and showing no signs yet of the arboreal form most beneficial for wildlife - just dark green leaves, no flowers/berries. So I've cut it today, won't attempt to pull any off till it's died.

Unbelievable

What is?

Oh I agree, you need to see the bark on a silver birch.

I googled it a bit more and I think my cherry will be ok. I actually love the smell of ivy flowers.

I think if the tree is healthy, it outgrows the ivy. When you see a tree overwhelmed by ivy, it’s because the tree wasn’t that vigorous in the first place.

It does have the disadvantage of leaf cover during the stormy winter season, so at greater risk of coming down.

It has the decided advantage in our local nature reserve that the local youth don’t target ivy covered trees for ring barking.

I've just noticed how much there is on my crab apple too, but I think I'll probably leave that.