Ivy IS a real problem

[CambridgeJC]

1 hour ago, Conor Wright said:

What you're seeing is part of a natural cycle in the lifetime of a woodland tree, poor hedge management may be a different story, but ivy can be a part of a mixed hedge to a degree. The abandonment of proper hedgerow maintenance in favour of electric fencing has reduced the ability of livestock to nibble away at ivy leaves but it's not as if its starting to invade the fields!

Ash dieback is certainly helping the visibility of ivy but its just a natural reaction of a plant being given a better chance to grow. 

What is this big thinking you speak of? 

To be honest, we're mostly straightforward hardworking people here and your style of language may come across as speaking down to some of us. A little less formality might help get you a bit further. 

In an ideal world minor offenders would be out doing the dirty work like litter picking, keeping overgrowth down on verges etc, then there wouldn't be this ivy issue you speak of, or a litter issue which is far more environmentally damaging. A lot of England is plain filthy. At least the ivy helps hide the rubbish.

Thanks Conor. Interesting you pick me up on language. I am down to earth myself and not used to having such claims levelled against me. Very strange. Something about the written word I guess. 
I do certainly not talk down to hardworking guys. I am or was one myself in my own way. Retired now but running on all four cylinders hopefully. 
I choose to involve myself in various topics of interest. Ivy encroachment has become one. You should understand that lots of our teaching vhas proved to be different from reality in many areas. So we must all question what we are taught. Age gives you this valuable asset. I was a bit of a rebel in my youth. I retained this during working life and set uo my own company to bring new technologies to market in purification of bioproducts proteins and finally viruses etc. That’s my background but I enjoy photography and love nature in general. 
Tell me about yourself. We all have a story to tell. And interests to share. 
Please share your experience with us here. It will help us to understand each orher and hopefully respect our input on the common issue of ivy in our countryside. Cheers. John 

[CambridgeJC]

On 17/04/2022 at 11:09, Stephen Blair said:

If the trees are owned by someone or a company, landowner, council that don’t keep on top of their maintenance which would benefit the trees then Ivy will lead to problems if it grows there.  
 To reduce the amount of Ivy I would recommend cutting it back to a point where there is not as much of it and still has leaf so not to eradicate it. 

If you were asked if ivy in the UK is being allowed to proliferate both upwards and outwards in an invasive style of growth habit …what would be your considered opinion? An open question…

[topchippyles]

17 minutes ago, CambridgeJC said:

Thanks Conor. Interesting you pick me up on language. I am down to earth myself and not used to having such claims levelled against me. Very strange. Something about the written word I guess. 
I do certainly not talk down to hardworking guys. I am or was one myself in my own way. Retired now but running on all four cylinders hopefully. 
I choose to involve myself in various topics of interest. Ivy encroachment has become one. You should understand that lots of our teaching vhas proved to be different from reality in many areas. So we must all question what we are taught. Age gives you this valuable asset. I was a bit of a rebel in my youth. I retained this during working life and set uo my own company to bring new technologies to market in purification of bioproducts proteins and finally viruses etc. That’s my background but I enjoy photography and love nature in general. 
Tell me about yourself. We all have a story to tell. And interests to share. 
Please share your experience with us here. It will help us to understand each orher and hopefully respect our input on the common issue of ivy in our countryside. Cheers. John 

John a few of the guys are have replied ivy is not an issue but its like you have an obsessive compulsiveness about the stuff. 

[Steven P]

So I have read through the posts - all the ivy ones - and as far as I can tell there is little malice in them from the members, no real name calling (really - you should see some forums!), and the OP seams to be very quick to jump that the members here are being unfair with their comments, which they are not really. You'll always get a difference of opinion and always get curious members asking the reason for a post here or there and if you have an opinion ask what your background in the post subject is - might be you are curious, might be you are a renowned professor so we know the depth of your knowledge. Nothing wrong with knowing nothing and asking so you learn, nothing wrong with passing on the knowledge of a lifetime study and work. So as far as I can see, the discussion is no worse than many I have seen. Just the OP appears to have a chip on their shoulder that we are all out to get him - we're not, just voicing an opinion (like this first paragraph)

 

Have a sit back, listen to what people say without shouting that they are all trolling you (and long term members of a forum rarely troll people).

 

So ivy, you like it, some don't and we all have a reason for our opinions - a climber will hate it with a vengeance on a job for example, an ecologist will love it for birds nests and so on, a gardener might be 50-50, a farmer might not like it but will live with it or add it as yet another job to do... all valid reasons.

 

Me, I am no big fan of it purely for aesthetic reasons - doesn't look good - and I associate it with older woodlands that could do with some care and attention. On a house - never, roots into all the mortar and pulls it apart.,

[CambridgeJC]

11 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

John a few of the guys are have replied ivy is not an issue but its like you have an obsessive compulsiveness about the stuff. 

Fine. But a few of the guys have said it is an issue. So there’s a good reason to expand in both directions. No? A bit like ivy!!!

Edited April 20, 2022 by CambridgeJC

[dumper]

11 hours ago, CambridgeJC said:

Sasly no. You managed to push it off course by your personal remarks and attempts to belittle your target who you consider an outsider who you assume has no knowledge and who you believe does not have the right to observe something you clearly have never considered seriously before and which you enjoy bating. Your behaviour breaches basic rules of good respectful behaviour and the administration seems unwilling to review the evolution of the threads in which you clearly enjoy provocative personal remarks designed to belittle and raise a laugh with your colleague arborists. I am no different from many other contributors who prefer to protect themselves from more sinister personal abuse from people like you by maintaining a posting name only. Soon I will provide a bit more to show I am not a total dumbo as you would have me seem. Have a good laugh now. John. 

You still here!!!!!!

[Guest Gimlet]

10 minutes ago, Steven P said:

On a house - never, roots into all the mortar and pulls it apart.,

Honeysuckle is even worse. Nothing has the destructive hydraulic power of that stuff. Yet I adore the bloody thing. Looks beautiful, alive with bees and the most fabulous scent in the world.

[CambridgeJC]

23 minutes ago, Steven P said:

So I have read through the posts - all the ivy ones - and as far as I can tell there is little malice in them from the members, no real name calling (really - you should see some forums!), and the OP seams to be very quick to jump that the members here are being unfair with their comments, which they are not really. You'll always get a difference of opinion and always get curious members asking the reason for a post here or there and if you have an opinion ask what your background in the post subject is - might be you are curious, might be you are a renowned professor so we know the depth of your knowledge. Nothing wrong with knowing nothing and asking so you learn, nothing wrong with passing on the knowledge of a lifetime study and work. So as far as I can see, the discussion is no worse than many I have seen. Just the OP appears to have a chip on their shoulder that we are all out to get him - we're not, just voicing an opinion (like this first paragraph)

 

Have a sit back, listen to what people say without shouting that they are all trolling you (and long term members of a forum rarely troll people).

 

So ivy, you like it, some don't and we all have a reason for our opinions - a climber will hate it with a vengeance on a job for example, an ecologist will love it for birds nests and so on, a gardener might be 50-50, a farmer might not like it but will live with it or add it as yet another job to do... all valid reasons.

 

Me, I am no big fan of it purely for aesthetic reasons - doesn't look good - and I associate it with older woodlands that could do with some care and attention. On a house - never, roots into all the mortar and pulls it apart.,

Thanks. But check out the full trail of Getting rid of ivy!!  The bad posts start on p7 and develop intensity from there on. When you are in receipt of such posts then it becomes a distraction and you become defensive and ultimately reactive. It is the sort of behaviour that good social media promote guidelines to prevent as not all contributors can take such behaviour. It amounts to bullying and is considered inappropriate. I abhor a bully. So I call them out. Most do not intend to be so and apologise. But a intentional bully will never apologise. He or she will continue to offend deliberately. That’s what they do. 
But that’s enough of that. I consider ivy is gaining ground in the UK in my region at least so I am enquiring about other regions in this forum. It is an open ended enquiry and not one to close off just because you or I hold any strong opinion. Or anyone else for that matter. 
 

[Guest Gimlet]

Have you any scientific evidence for the expansion of ivy growth in your area or is it an impression based on observation? 

[Steven P]

42 minutes ago, CambridgeJC said:

Thanks. But check out the full trail of Getting rid of ivy!!  The bad posts start on p7 and develop intensity from there on. When you are in receipt of such posts then it becomes a distraction and you become defensive and ultimately reactive. It is the sort of behaviour that good social media promote guidelines to prevent as not all contributors can take such behaviour. It amounts to bullying and is considered inappropriate. I abhor a bully. So I call them out. Most do not intend to be so and apologise. But a intentional bully will never apologise. He or she will continue to offend deliberately. That’s what they do. 
But that’s enough of that. I consider ivy is gaining ground in the UK in my region at least so I am enquiring about other regions in this forum. It is an open ended enquiry and not one to close off just because you or I hold any strong opinion. Or anyone else for that matter. 
 

 

I'll repeat what I said earlier.. what is in these posts is not really bad compared to a lot of forums, a lot of opinions based on different experiences and expectations, and a couple of lighter hearted comments that have been taken the wrong way. Experience teaches me not to rise to the bait on many occasions and the internet is better for it.

 

Ivy is a subjective subject, looks like you want a scientific based answer though then opinions, which you are not likely to get given the diverse forum membership here. I think one of the earlier comments nearly summarises it.... Like marmite, you either love it or hate it (other yeast extract based spreads are available).