Ivy – the Great Divide

Ivy; The great divide

The Ivy debate has highlighted the divide between lovers and haters, horticultural Brexit. There is no doubt that ivy has a very important place in providing both food and shelter for many species in our countryside as various correspondents have already pointed out.

Back in the fifties I recall the hedgerows being cut by hand by farm workers and hard work it really was, cutting the hedges with slashers. It was always their job to cut the ivy back off the trees and remove it wherever possible. The gradual introduction of the tractor hedge trimmer developed by McConnel of Ludlow in 1948 and widely welcomed by all those who had to endure the hard slog of hand trimming was equally welcomed by Ivy everywhere which flourished as tractor drivers became glued to their seats and would not dismount to hand cut it back.

In its favour the growth of ivy on field trees has to some extent made up for the widespread removal of field hedge rows back in the sixties and seventies which resulted in thousands of miles of habitat being destroyed as machinery grew in size and farms amalgamated. However, good as that may be it does have a recognisable downside which ivy lovers choose to ignore and that is roadside safety.

Left to its own devices ivy will and does eventually smother the tree to such an extent that the tree cannot be visually examined to determine its health, I would draw your attention to a smothered oak tree on the immediate roadside between First and Second Dig lane Hatherton to make my point. I have observed that tree, passing it almost daily until my retirement, for the last 45 years and I challenge anybody to make an accurate assessment on the health, vigour and safety of that tree until the ivy is cut back to reveal it. Many such trees came down this last winter as a result of saturated ground in combination with a heavy overburden of ivy.

A naked tree can withstand a gale far better. Insurance companies have to pay out on negligence claims where landowners fail to make the necessary checks on roadside trees but that is of little consolation to a badly injured traveller or worse, their grieving family. So please get the ivy cut back regularly on roadside trees which I note has recently been done to a tree on the Turnpike field.

I cut it back on that tree some twelve years ago following an inspection by Bob Price the retired Forestry officer for Cheshire County Council. He and I had been some of the original founding members of the Cheshire Farming and Wildlife Group (FWAG) in the late seventies and had promoted tree planting and pond conservation schemes as the county, like much of England at that time, was in the throes of hedge removal and pond drainage infill schemes with government grant assistance.

The two small woodland plantations alongside footpath 24 Salford were organised by Bob Price with grant funding as the government had been lobbied to provide some form of national green offset for the ecological damage of agricultural progress. Somewhat ironic that two government schemes with opposing objectives were simultaneously available, but perhaps not surprising.

But returning to ivy, in my opinion the ideal tree for ivy to grow upon is the sycamore for it hosts only a handful of native species compared to the oak which hosts over 300 species and the inclusion of ivy will extend the range and usefulness of the sycamore dramatically. Additionally the Sycamore is a robust quick growing tree that will enable it to hold its own more effectively than some other slow growing species, so it's a win all round.

Finally, if you proclaim to be an ivy lover you should have it in your garden and not just the pretty variegated stuff but the real McCoy like the one that is in the process of destroying my old shed, the insects love it and it provides the birds a nesting site in summer and shelter in winter, sadly the neighbourhood cats like it too. But that's life, it's all about balance.

Peter Morgan