Hello:
About six months ago, a neighbour, who is infirm, was asking me how to get rid of ivy that is growing up the trunk of a tree in her garden (the tree must be over thirty feet high, altogether). She was afraid that eventually, the ivy will strangle this tree. I offered to snip it at the base of the tree, and did so, being confident that, within a couple of. weeks or so, it would wither and die. I carefully went all round the base of the tree, snipping through several separate growths of ivy that were climbing up the tree, and even pulled it off, so that there was a clear disconnection from any nutrition that the ground supplied.
After all this time, the ivy does not seem to be any different — it looks as green as it did when I did the cutting!
My question is: does the failure of the ivy to wither show that, in some way, the 'suckers" that allow it to grip the tree-bark allow it to receive nourishment, or is ivy very, very slow to die, even when its tendrils have been cut at base?
Thanks in advance, for any useful comments!
Regards,
A.W.
About six months ago, a neighbour, who is infirm, was asking me how to get rid of ivy that is growing up the trunk of a tree in her garden (the tree must be over thirty feet high, altogether). She was afraid that eventually, the ivy will strangle this tree. I offered to snip it at the base of the tree, and did so, being confident that, within a couple of. weeks or so, it would wither and die. I carefully went all round the base of the tree, snipping through several separate growths of ivy that were climbing up the tree, and even pulled it off, so that there was a clear disconnection from any nutrition that the ground supplied.
After all this time, the ivy does not seem to be any different — it looks as green as it did when I did the cutting!
My question is: does the failure of the ivy to wither show that, in some way, the 'suckers" that allow it to grip the tree-bark allow it to receive nourishment, or is ivy very, very slow to die, even when its tendrils have been cut at base?
Thanks in advance, for any useful comments!
Regards,
A.W.