I was off down to the woods this morning for another Green Gym session. Today’s tasks were based around woodland management. One was looking out for trees with extensive ivy build up.

Ivy is not a problem in itself. It uses the tree as a scaffold to climb up but isn’t stealing nutrients or constricting its host. However, it can be a problem in wind prone areas, such as a stand of trees next to a more open area. Deciduous trees shed their leaves during the colder, wetter part of the year and so the wind whistles through them but doesn’t rock them too much on the softer ground. Ivy, though, is evergreen and it is understood that large build-ups can create a sail effect, increasing the chances of trees being significantly damaged or even brought down by high winds.

We weren’t eradicating the ivy but ringing out sections lower down on the trees. It will grow back over that but it will take a while and, in the meanwhile, the parts higher up will die back and are more likely to be blown off than cause their host to blow over. That’s the theory at least – I’ll have to go for a midwinter walk and see how it is working out.