Le lierre, common ivy, is, in fact, quite common around us. We have a lot of it. It grows on the ground in our yard's shady spots as a ground cover. I don't know if it was planted there intentionally or if it just got there naturally. It also climbs up tree trunks and walls. Every year we go around cutting and pulling it off of trees and walls, but we never get it all.
It's also common in the wild, covering trees on the edges of the vineyard parcels around us. I read that common ivy is not a parasite and that it doesn't damage its host trees, except in cases where an already old or weak tree is so laden with ivy that its weight topples the tree. Seeing ivy cover a dead or dying tree certainly gives the impression that the ivy is the culprit, but apparently it's not normally the cause of a tree's demise.
Ivy flowers attract a lot of insects, and birds enjoy the berries, rejecting the seeds here and there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about ivy and damage to trees. Nice surprise. It can look so beautiful but can sure make a mess of walls.
ReplyDeleteI remember ivy. Some houses were completely covered in it. Father thought it a fire hazard
ReplyDeleteGood information, thanks.
ReplyDeleteIn my old house, ivy covered a lot of the ground in the back yard as it was quite wooded. I never minded it because I didn't have grass to cut.
ReplyDeletechm, nature at work!
ReplyDeletemitch, I know. It climbs up the walls of our garden shed.
michael, our house was covered in Virginia creeper, but it was all removed before we bought it. Still, tiny bits of it still cling to the walls, dead, of course.
bettyann, :)
michael, I don't have to cut where the ivy grows, but it's just a small portion of the yard.