Trees & English Ivy

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Free Your Tree from English Ivy!

Trees & English Ivy

Wonderful trees!

Trees produce the oxygen we breathe … filter pollutants from the air … reduce stormwater runoff … shade our homes and reduce energy costs … provide food and shelter for small animals and birds … and so much more.

Yet trees in the Washington DC region are literally under siege by invasive plants.

English ivy is the most prevalent and harmful invasive plant on private property in the DC metro area.

The plant was heavily used as a groundcover in the DC region before the extent of its destructiveness to trees was realized. It is a pretty vine – but deadly.

How does English ivy harm trees?

“Vines that climb up trees slowly kill the tree from the base upwards by enveloping branches and twigs, blocking sunlight, causing branch and eventual tree death. The added weight of vines also makes trees susceptible to blowing over during storms. English ivy has been confirmed as a reservoir for bacterial leaf scorch (Xylella fastidiosa), a harmful plant pathogen that affects a wide variety of native and ornamental trees such as elms, oaks and maples.”

National Park Service / U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service

Mature ivy berries attract birds who then disperse the seeds far from the original plant.

Four good reasons to free your tree:

♦ English ivy creates unhealthy trees that become hazards to homes, property, people

♦ Trees weakened by ivy are more likely to topple in storms

♦ Invasive plants reduce property values

♦ Ivy provides a breeding ground for rats, mosquitoes, slugs, other pests

Black Gum tree in autumn * www.ces.ncsu.edu

Learn more about ...

INVASIVE PLANTS to remove

♦ U.S. National Park Service

♦ U.S. National Arboretum

♦ The Nature Conservancy

NATIVE PLANTS to use

♦ Maryland Native Plant Society

♦ Virginia Native Plant Society

Economic-Environmental-Social Benefits of Trees

♦ Casey Trees