Blandford Canyon Ivy Pulls

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Blandford Canyon Ivy Pulls

Next ivy pull for Blandford Canyon will be Saturday, April 25th, 9am -1pm.

We'll meet at Southcliff Park on the corner of Umatilla Way and Oregon Drive in the Southcliff neighborhood.

Wear protective clothing and bring a pruning tool (pruning saw recommended), gloves and water.

For more information email blandfordivypull@comcast.net or you can use the contact form on this website. 

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Information from City Parks and Recreation, Vancouver, WA

English ivy is a harmful non-native plant. It kills off other plants to establish itself, even our native trees. The most effective way to protect our forests is by removing ivy.  Help Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation take care of our natural areas by following these instructions to remove ivy in Blandford Canyon.

• Using loppers or clippers, cut all the ivy vines around the tree at about 2 feet high and at the ground (as low as you can).
  
• Pull this piece of vine free from the trunk.
• Pull the ivy from the ground in a 3 foot ring around the tree and cut it loose.
• Do this to as many trees as you have time for. This will kill the ivy growing higher up the trunk and in the canopy, helping the tree. It will also keep ivy from growing back too quickly.
• When you are finished, cut all the vines into pieces less than 1 foot long. Throw these pieces into the surrounding ivy to decompose, not on bare ground or a trail where it can grow.

 Visit Southcliff Neighborhood Association

Visit IvyOut.org 

Information from NoIvyLeague, Portland, OR

English Ivy's Adverse Impacts on Trees

• Ivy competes with the trees, especially seedlings, for water and nutrients.
• Ivy vines eventually grow into a dense cover on the bark of the tree's trunk. depriving the bark of the normal contact with air and micro-organisms.
• Ivy vines grow to a very large size - often four or more inches in 30 or less years  and have a very high water content thus add considerable weight to the tree making it more susceptible to toppling and blow-down.
• The stiff, waxy characteristics of Ivy leaves hold water, ice, and snow which also add to weight and exacerbate conditions leading to toppling and blow-down.
• Mature Ivy grows in spiral pattern as opposed to the horizontal-vertical pattern of the immature plant thus it 'furls' out around the branches and trunk further reducing the ability of the tree to perform photo-synthesis.
• When Ivy grows up the tree seeking the light it needs to mature and propagate, it eventually covers the apical stem or apex of the tree. The tree reacts as if it has been topped: experiencing biologic stress and sending messages of its distress out to the types of micro-organisms whose purpose is to hasten the demise of the tree. The Ivy growing around the tree has supplanted the deciduous plants which have a growth and decay cycle that replenishes the nutrients in the soil.


• Ivy systematically destroys the trees leading to premature toppling and opening of holes in the canopy thus changing the environment making it more hospitable for other alien invaders which are not shade tolerant.
• Ivy suppresses and replaces all understory: herb layer and shrub layer. This means the food and shelter required by indigenous wildlife is lost. Ivy is not a food source for any indigenous wildlife.
• Ivy disrupts the plant succession process because indigenous species including conifers cannot successfully establish themselves even if they do germinate. 
• Ivy crowds out and smothers native plant seedlings. With succession disrupted, the landscape incrementally becomes a mass of Ivy which only tolerates other plant species similar to or the same as those with which it evolved but not theindigenous species required for wildlife habitat.


• Ivy does not stabilize slopes because it has a very shallow, mat-like root system. Vegetative slope stabilization requires a diversity of root masses of different configurations and depths which bring the water down through the soil and form an interconnecting water dispersal system.
• Ivy's dense ground cover and thick mat-like roots tend to pond the water on the surface of the slope making the top layer heavier and more likely to slide.
• The stiff, waxy character of the Ivy leaves increase impact erosion because the water beats against the hard leaf surface rather than glide on the much softer surfaces of native plants.
• Ivy's destructive impact on trees increases tree toppling on slopes thus further destabilizes the slope once held by the root systems of healthier trees.

• Ivy's suppression and replacement of native, shade tolerant and shade providing plants along stream corridors increases erosion thus increases sedimentation in the water and reduces water quality necessary for aquatic wildlife.
• Ivy's streamside dominance means increased direct sunlight which means increased water temperatures, another factor degrading water quality because warmer water has less capacity to carry oxygen.
• Ivy's dominance decreases streamside habitat thus reducing food sources for terrestrial wildlife and aquatic wildlife which feeds on the organisms attractedby streamside and overhanging vegetation.


• Ivy's shallow root system does not stabilize slopes or stop erosion.
• Since Ivy is not a food source for native wildlife, landscapes of Ivy do not attract a diversity of birds, butterflies, and helpful insects.
• Ivy's growth characteristics: thick mat, nearly impenetrable layers of inter-twined vines provide refuge for vermin especially rats who are protected from predators in the dense growth.
• Ivy's vine and root growth pattern tend to make shallow pools of water on the ground which are ideal breeding places for mosquitoes.
• Thick mats of Ivy in yards and gardens, especially sloping areas, receive sufficient light for the plant to mature and produce "berries" or drupes which are eaten by European Starlings and English House Sparrows which are two destructive alien bird species. Ivy berries are listed as toxic to most native songbirds but certain wide-ranging, omnivorous indigenous species such as Robins, Stellar Jays, and Cedar Waxwings also eat the berries. These birds, alien and indigenous, discharge the seeds in unwanted places like natural areas and forests.
• Widespread use of non-food source, hostile habitat plants like Ivy reduce the amount of urban forest (a forest includes all plants such as ground level species and shrubs as well as trees) available for the area's wildlife. In addition to greenspaces, wildlife needs a healthy urban forest in the network of yards and gardens especially as development increases.
• Ivy vines will also cause damage to structures. The vines will insinuate into wood frame or brick buildings. Besides structural damage to buildings and fences, many instances of accelerated rot and vermin nests have been found when ivy forms a thick mat against a wall.

• Again, Ivy does not stop erosion or help to prevent slope failure.
• Its widespread use also diminishes the diversity and health of the urban forest.
• Ivy's access to sunlight in the open areas promotes the maturing of Ivy, its propagation, and its continued spread through root and vine escapeas well as seed production and spread.