By Ia

 English Ivy is from England, western Asia and Africa.  Non-native plants are called an invasive species: Invasive plants mean that the plant is not native to the area but it has still survived.  It is unknown when English ivy was first brought to America, but it is said that English Ivy was brought to America in the colonial times.  English Ivy quickly spread throughout America because it is sold widely throughout the United States as a landscaping plant.  English Ivy thrives in 28 states.

 The most common type of English Ivy, has a dark green, waxy, leathery type of leaf. (Leaves typically have three lobes and a heart shaped base.)  English Ivy is a climbing, evergreen climate type of vine.  The vines attach to the bark of trees or other surfaces with small rootlets that exclude a glue like substance, attaching itself to it’s surface.  Older plants of English ivy can grow to 1 foot in diameter.  Because English Ivy is a very popular ground cover plant horticulturists have created many types of English Ivy.

 English Ivy reproduces by seed and vegetatively.  New plants grow when stems come in contact with soil.  With enough sunlight, the plant produces clusters of small, greenish-white, five part flowers in the fall.  The flowers than form into ¼ inch black berries that contain hard seeds.  The berries on English Ivy also contains toxic glycosides that make some birds vomit, this helps the English Ivy plant to keep the berries safe which contain the seeds.

 English Ivy is invasive, it does not belong in America, because it kills other plants by forming a dense blanket that shades native plants, killing native plants.  It also climbs up trunks and into trees, preventing sunlight from reaching the trees leaves.  The weight of the vines make it very likely for trees to topple over in storms.  English Ivy also hosts bacterial leaf scorch (Xyella Fastidiosa), a plant pathogen that spreads to native elms, oaks, and maple trees.

 Prefers shade but can grow in part sun  Moist, but not extremely wet, soil.  Woodlands, forest edges, fields, hedgerows, coastal areas and edges of salt marshes.  Invades areas after natural or human- induced disturbances and frequently escapes it’s boundaries in landscaping.

All parts of this plant are TOXIC. Contact with sap may cause severe skin irritation with redness, itching, and blisters. Eating berries causes a burning sensation in the throat; ingestion of leaves may cause delirium, stupor, convulsions, hallucinations, fever, and rash.

 Hand pull in small areas and cover with weed blocking fabric and mulch or some other ground cover.  Bag and remove vines to prevent re-rooting.  Cut stems that have climbed trees to separate the vine from it’s roots.  Spray new roots on the ground.  Do not spray herbicides on tree canopies or on trunks or on bark.  Apply herbicides on new leaves in spring