Every gardener knows that ivy is a major nuisance to manage. But the damage that it can do goes beyond your lawn.
In a TikTok video for Redwoods Rising, Michael Hawk, co-founder and host of the popular nature podcast Jumpstart Nature, shared a little-known but very dangerous truth about that plant that everyone loves to hate: Left unchecked, English ivy can choke trees as grand as redwoods, even outlasting them.
@redwoodsrising English ivy is one of the few non native invasive plants that can infiltrate an old growth forest because it doesn't require disturbance like most other invasive plants #invasivespecies #englishivy #naturelovers ♬ original sound - Redwoods Rising
After noting that ivy is one of the more destructive invasive plants in California, Hawk detailed the process by which it conquers such massive trees.
"See all these little plants?" Hawk asked. "They're gonna grow up the trees to reach the sunlight and make … berries."
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Hawk said that birds eat those berries and then poop out the seeds, helping the ivy to spread. When those seeds reach remote spots, they can grow rapidly because of little human intervention.
"Then, once the ivy gets too heavy for the tree, the tree will topple over," Hawk continued. "But the ivy may survive and send out octopus arms to cover more baby trees until pretty soon, all you have is English ivy."
When placed in that context, the fact that ivy runs roughshod over our yards is no longer a surprise. But there are still ways to combat its frustrating and destructive tendencies, starting with the introduction of native plants to your lawn.
In addition to crowding out the space and competing for the resources that ivy needs to thrive, native plants or a natural lawn can provide additional benefits. For example, they will save you money on water bills because they aren't as thirsty as typical monoculture lawns, and they also don't require a lot of maintenance.
They also create a healthier ecosystem for pollinators, which ultimately benefits everyone because these creatures protect our food supply. Even a partial lawn replacement can make a difference.
As expected for a video about ivy, commenters sounded off.
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Definitely 👍 "In Oregon, you can see all these vines crawling up every single tree when driving on the freeway," one user wrote.
"I live on the East Coast and we have to cut the vines every summer so it doesn't strangle the trees," read another popular response.
The top-rated comment chose not to blame the ivy itself but its human enablers: "I wish that the average garden store took more responsibility in either not carrying invasive plants or be very clear in labeling it as invasive and the consequences of that."
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