City of Lake Forest Park News Release

Rip Out That Ivy!

On a Saturday in October residents volunteered their time to remove ivy from City parks. English ivy is an invasive plant that is severely damaging our urban forests. When English ivy escapes from landscaped areas it often spreads in shaded forested lands or natural areas. Left unchecked, it eventually “chokes” trees and makes them vulnerable to toppling in a wind.

Ivy also shades out other beneficial plants and shrubs. This eventually creates an "Ivy desert." There are several woody areas in Lake Forest Park that are currently heavily affected by ivy. What can you do?

Do not plant ivy. Remember that ivy currently growing unchecked came from someone’s yard. Consider an alternative ground cover such as wild strawberries, false lily of the valley, bunchberry, kinnikinnick, or wood sorrel.

Remove ivy from your yard. When removing ivy from the ground, get up all the roots you can. Free up native plants by cutting the ivy around them first and then removing the ivy so other plants are not damaged.

Remove ivy from trees. First remove ivy from your trees, then from the ground. If you don’t remove it from the ground, it will just grow back up on the trees. Depending on the thickness of the vines, use either loppers or a pruning saw to cut through each vine at shoulder height and at ankle length. Next, start pulling up as much ivy as possible and as deep as possible around the base of the tree. Keep extending the pulled vines around the base of the tree until they are at least six feet from the tree’s base all the way around.

Ivy disposal. Smaller amounts of ivy may go into yard waste. For larger amounts: pile the ivy and let it sit and dry out or decompose. Covering the pile will speed the decomposition process. Wrap the vines into medium sized bundles and leave them on the site to die and dry up.

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