Horticulture Question

“I have a tree in my front yard. It has been covered with ivy for so long that it is being choked to death. There are only a couple of limbs that are getting any sunlight. Some of the ivy vines are as thick as my wrist. The question is, If I cut & kill these vines with a hatchet and pruning shears, will there be any detrimental effects to the tree as the vines die & dry up?
Thanks.”

“Only good effects. The ivy will eventually dry up and fall off and the tree's leaves will get something they're not used to: sunlight.”

“you might want to check with an arborist to make sure the tree hasnt become a hazzard tree.”

“Don't use the hatchet in anyway that might cause harm to the tree. Once the vines become dry they will become a fire hazard to the tree. But where you live there is not much danger in a grass fire.”

“I'm giving it the hatchet job tomorrow.”

“Is it a Cherry Tree. Be honest!”

“Ok, I will bring my degree in Agriculture to bear on this one.....



You can bring a whore to culture, but you can't make her drink.

Any more questions?





















To answer the question, yes, use a hatchet and cut the vines close to the ground. Try to avoid damage to the bark but an inch or less of damage should pose no problems.


The ivy will grow back pretty quick from the ground up and can be spot treated with roundup or paraquat (spot treatment is the key word).

chili (trapped in password hell)”

“Thanks Chili.”

“chili has an ag degree? Interesting.

A few years ago one of the football mags listed the best crip courses for athletes across the country. #1 was beginning horticulture at Auburn. The prof is the hardest working man in horticulture, Dr. James Brown. I couldn't believe that was the guys name. chili - Jeremy said he knew lots of folks that had taken the class and it was actually the guys name. It was a great class, btw.”

“I had a similiar problem a few years ago on my pin oak. The ivy wasn't in the canopy yet but I heard that you should never try to pull the ivy from the canopy just cut as much as you can off the trunk and let the rest die off. If you try to pull the stuff out of the tree you my actually do more damage then good.”

“I finally got my garden going for the summer. I got zero closet space now.”

“The corect quote is:

You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her THINK.”

“Why is it everyone thinks a degree in Agriculture is a creampuff degree?


Three semesters of Chemistry; 4 semesters of biology; 5 semesters of math (including upper level statistics); throw in engineering; plant pathology; entomology; animal science; economics (about 7 semesters total); accounting; and the basic core subjects like English; Literature and Sociology and it isn't quite as easy as it seems.

BTW, I am thinking of going back to school part time this fall to get my Masters in Entomology.”

“I don't think it's easy, just interesting. It's not exactly the obvious pre-law curriculum.”

“Chili, my bro got his degree in Agriculture and he has the coolest job EVER! Its not cream puff.”

“Agriculture at MS State was a very challenging degree.
No redneck dumba$$ need apply.
The FarmHouse frat House was near mine in school and all those guys were sharp.

Chili is the first one I've heard of going into law from ag, but not supriseing.”

“Planting ivy should be a capital offense.

It’ll take you years to get rid of it all.”

“I'd use pruners instead of a hatchet; they're much more precise. THe sooner you kill the ivy the better.”

“Actually, stove stomper, three of us in my grauduating class went on to law school with degrees in Agriculture.

Two are still practicing law and constantly telling me how they wish they could change careers and pursue something agricultural related.”

“Ivy=Kudzu!”

“There are some test plots in Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee where they used various methods to kill the kudzu.

The first 4 were failures and on the 5th plot they succeeded.

Unfortunately it was three years before anything would grow on that plot.

First thing back? Yep, you got it, the kudzu.”

“I want to go back to school to study Entenmannolgy . . . . . wait for it!!!
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The study or pastries”

“Why would you want to kill the national plant of the South?”

“I *heart* aggies”

“The young tender kudzu vines are very good for you. They're tasy lightly sauteed or stir fried with other veggies.”

“I'd love to use pruning shears on these buggers, but some of the vines are 3-4 inches in diameter. I do promise to be careful though.”

“Thanks for correcting that egregious mistelling of the joke AJ!”

“Kudzu makes good cattle feed as well, problem is it grows faster than it can be foraged or harvested.”

“It inhibits the intake of Alcohol....

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,858,00.html”

“It inhibits the intake of Alcohol....

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,858,00.html

Yeah, I said it TWICE!...so?....


http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/05/17/kudzu.drinking.ap/
last edited: 6/01/05 4:08:31 PM”

“I finally cut up that ivy. There were 4 maine vines/roots that were in excess of 4-5 inches in diameter. That's on a tree that's about 18 inches in diameter. Poor tree was being strangled to death.”

“Now you get to dig up or pull up the vine roots!”

“Can't I just let 'em rot? Or is that bad?”

“They'll just resprout and grow back.”

“Yeah - you've just done the easy part. Even after you think you've got all the roots, you'll be fighting them for years.”

“What about spraying Roundup on the open cuts?”

“Removal Methods http://www.noivyleague.com/Pages/con_meth_removal.html”

“Wait for the vine roots to sprout good and then hit them with roundup. Do not use paraquat.”

“Thanks for the website.”

“We have grapevines that are just as persistant in growing over our bushes and trees..... You definitely need to treat the roots, but make sure that it isn't somehting that will get onto the tree or you could cause injury to the tree...”

“Log chain, pick-up or tractor,”

“roundup needs leaves to be absorbed. mix it to the max label recommendation if not using premixed.

Without a restricted use certification, he can't even get paraquat.”