Blowing Through the Ivy at Bloedel Reserve
What makes Weed Warriors happy? Pulling ivy roots from soft duff in the forest! Weed Warriors have volunteered at Bloedel Reserve on several occasions. Pictured is the multiple piles of ivy pulled in just 2 hours during a volunteer event in July.
Pulling ivy is rewarding on multiple levels and in the deep shade and deep compost below the trees, ivy comes out more easily. The people that volunteer with Weed Warriors are of all ages and joining plant activists and making progress as a group is indeed rewarding. Plant lovers share knowledge and fulfillment on a group ivy pull. There is divine satisfaction in the huge piles of vines of decimated English ivy—no longer strangling the trees. Helping forest health lessens fire risk and ongoing stewardship promotes carbon sequestration.
Ivy has an insidious life cycle. When it reaches the sun in the tall trees, the leaves morph into a rounded shape and tiny blossoms ripen into dark beads of seeds that are consumed by birds and redistributed when they defecate—germinating into more ivy in more places! Not only that, but the heavy leaves in trees create a burden on the tree structure. It forms a wind sail and when the wind blows, the structure will fall—often onto nearby power lines. Next time your power goes out (and living around here, it will), consider blaming the lazy landowner who didn’t get the ivy out of the trees. All that is needed is to sever the vines at ground level and they will die in the tree. No need to climb!
Join Weed Warriors during their next volunteer event at Bloedel on August 23, 1 to 3.
–Written by Jeannette Franks, Ph.D.
