Briars and Ivy taking over Ireland

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122036547#Comment_122036547

"the same way" isnt an explanation though. Please answer the question I asked. What do Irish trees do differently to US trees that makes ivy a problem over there vs over here.

It should be a trivial question to answer since you are all so sure that ivy has no negative impact to trees….

Jb1989

Think a poll is needed to see if people think ivy kills a tree. Seems to be near 50/50 yes to no going by the comments

whisky_galore

While I might see some logic in removing ivy from a tree, I can't see where the hatred about briars is coming from. They provide cover and food for animals and birds.

Think this is simply wanting everything to look like a sterile manicured garden, which isn't what nature is about at all.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122034778#Comment_122034778

And this is bad how??

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038180#Comment_122038180

As @emaherx correctly pointed out to me in the past, what I was calling briars are in fact brambles. Briars are commonly called dog roses around here.

Seth Brundle

Just to veer away from our humble opinions, I note that highly respected organisations, the RHS claim that ivy does not usually directly kill trees…

https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/ivy-on-trees-ground-cover-weed

twin_beacon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037773#Comment_122037773

I'm going to leave it at this, as this is just going around in circles. These are pics of a tree on our land, two pics taken from google street view, the first one in October, and the second one the following August.
As you can see on the pic on the left, the core of the tree is covered in Ivy, but there is no Ivy on the new growth, where the leaves had grown, even though Ivy grows faster than the tree.
When the leaves bloom, they are situated towards the extremities of the tree, and not in the core where Ivy grows. Its the leaves that obstruct light to the Ivy, not the other way around.

Seth Brundle

^^^ that's just a flipped pic of how the ivy killed the tree 🤣

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122038261#Comment_122038261

It was posted earlier. It starts off stating it's not that harmful and then explains why it is.

Along with the rather bizarre statement that the presence of Ivy on a tree may be a sign of ill health.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037797#Comment_122037797

Cos they co-evolved and have lived in harmony for millions of years - its a pretty basic concept in Ecology

_Brian

birds feeding like mad on the Ivy berries round here at the moment.

It may shorten the life of a tree by a bit, but we need to remember trees have a finite life anyway. And along the way ivy supports a multitude of biodiversity that a tree without doesn’t. Live and let live, we’re all just passing through.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039899#Comment_122039899

You keep saying this but havent yet provided an example of what evolutionary steps the Irish trees took that trees in the US didn't take.

It also avoids the somewhat awkward problem that the tree shouldnt have to evolve if the ivy doesn't cause a problem to it….

GreeBo

Those in favour of leaving the ivy alone, whats going to stop it from covering every tree, hedge and wall in your opinion? What controls the growth of ivy?

893bet

This tree is likely 150-200 years old. Enormous. See image with water tank for perspective. Note ivy is only on one side so cattle kept it in check for the bottom six feet on the field side.

See the ivy trunk itself on the forest side is 12 inches itself. See 1.5 litre coke bottle for perspective.

You can see the Ivy (green leaves ) go to crown….almost….see the yellow leaves as the tree springs to life.

trees fucked lads clearly…….lol

Lime Tree Farm

Great space for nature there, you won't hear any birdsong where you have box hedgerows.

Dinzee Conlee

Spent a part of the day yesterday cutting up a willow/Sally tree that had been knocked by storm during the winter - I think the reason was it was covered in ivy.

I would tend to remove ivy from trees along the ditches, as I do think it can make them more liable to storm damage. It’s mainly ash and willow/Sally we have here, which aren’t great in the storm if they have a big crown of ivy. We have a good bit of wood/scrub that the ivy can go mad growing in, so I don’t feel too guilty about it 🙂

Having said that, always make sure that few trees around the yard have good ivy. Always end up needing a bit for a sick animal during lambing.

Didn’t expect the views to be so polarised on this, it’s only ivy…

GreeBo

I think the above series of photos is a great example, what happens when there are no cattle or they have no access to the ivy to keep it in check?

I'm still waiting for an explanation of how Irish trees have evolved to handle ivy yet trees in the US haven't…

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072435#Comment_122072435

Its only bindweed…