Boston Ivy Spruce

[stevej37]

In the very far corner of my 1.2 acre lot...I have a spruce tree that is in the same spot that I used for dumping leaves from the fall season.
At the time, I didn't know the damage that I was doing....the tree slowly is dying.

Two years ago, I planted two Boston Ivy plants at the base. Now..they are over 16 feet tall over the trunk.

Until I saw it down...the tree now has some color!

[fintstone]

A very invasive species.

[vash]

my wife planted some in my backyard. we argued over it, and she got the landscaper to plant some. he insisted it wouldnt invade. it was planted along our back wood fence.

i relented and shut up.

my dog Hank loves to run along the back fence when joggers or dog walkers were on the trail on the other side. he brushed against every vine and destroyed them. zero survived.

good boy!! good Hank. LOVE that dog

[stevej37]

It's easy to keep an eye on it so that it doesn't take over the good trees in that row.
Just a couple snips at the ground and both Ivy plants are dead.

[fintstone]

I bought a home with a small patch...maybe 10x10 before COVID. Now I have an acre of the stuff and it is rapidly going up the mountain behind the house. It is essentially in a forest (and the perfect climate apparently). Now most trees look like yours...and the vines are breaking limbs and pulling them down. All the fences are covered as well. It chokes everything out. Worse than bamboo.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I bought a home with a small patch...maybe 10x10 before COVID. Now I have an acre of the stuff and it is rapidly going up the mountain behind the house. It is essentially in a forest (and the perfect climate apparently). Now most trees look like yours...and the vines are breaking limbs and pulling them down. All the fences are covered as well. It chokes everything out. Worse than bamboo.

My parents had a cabin at Lake Martin, in Alabama. The area is mostly pine trees, but one area had kudzu. One of the friends that visited once took home a little kudzu. The next year it had covered everything at their place. Only cattle eating it, will slow it down a little.

[vash]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I bought a home with a small patch...maybe 10x10 before COVID. Now I have an acre of the stuff and it is rapidly going up the mountain behind the house. It is essentially in a forest (and the perfect climate apparently). Now most trees look like yours...and the vines are breaking limbs and pulling them down. All the fences are covered as well. It chokes everything out. Worse than bamboo.

yikes.!

do you have options? i dont remember roundup being all that effective right?

i seem to remember my Gardener/Landscaper telling me (while i was yelling NNNNOOOOO!) that boston ivy is not that invasive and it sheds leaves in the fall like a tree. ( i cant spell Desidous)

it's ENGLISH ivy that is the bad one. personally, i dont know. but that sounds awful.

[stevej37]

The two plants in my pic are Boston Ivy. They are deciduous and restart every spring.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by vash

yikes.!

do you have options? i dont remember roundup being all that effective right?

i seem to remember my Gardener/Landscaper telling me (while i was yelling NNNNOOOOO!) that boston ivy is not that invasive and it sheds leaves in the fall like a tree. ( i cant spell Desidous)

it's ENGLISH ivy that is the bad one. personally, i dont know. but that sounds awful.

You are probably right. They look the same to me.

Invasive Alert!!! English Ivy destroying Tennessee and Oregon Neighborhoods and Forests

This was a lawn with grass a year earlier...photo from when I had to cut one of the trees that fell off of my house.