Ivy League

When Brian and I went to look at our then potential new house, one of the first things I noticed was the English Ivy. It was everywhere! (Still is, for that matter.)

Being a landscape designer, I notice those sorts of things. Brian didn't really mind the ivy either way, but once we moved in it was a priority for me to have it removed. At least from taking over the trees. We had two large trees that were just covered in ivy: one was a Spruce tree in our front yard and one was a Magnolia in our back yard. Both trees were, and are, great additions to our landscape, and I definitely didn't want the ivy to conquer either tree. I'm not planning on removing either of them. (And to be quite honest, I absolutely cannot wait to see the Magnolia in bloom next Spring! That's the plant geek in me!)

Years of growth sent ivy growing all the way up the trunks of these two trees to the point where you couldn't even see the bark anymore. In some areas, this ivy reached 35 feet in height, at least! We were told that ivy grows approximately one foot each year, so after about 35 years of growth, we put a stop to it today. Adiós, Hedera helix!

We hired an arborist who came out, shimmied all the way to the tippie top of both trees, and cut the ivy, removed the ivy, and hauled the ivy out of our yard. It's amazing to see the bark and trunk of the trees again. They look renewed, healthy, and come Spring, I'm sure they will be thanking us!

Even Brian ended up thinking removing the ivy was a fantastic call! I try to use my landscape expertise every now and then, but sometimes it's easier said than done! For those of us who are slightly more visual people (ah hem, Brian), it's nice to have someone in the fam (ah hem, your wife) that can envision the spectacularness that would result in removing the ivy, isn't it?! Oh, and it doesn't stop there! After envisioning the multitude of greatness that would result from the removal of the ivy, making an educated decision to complete the task at hand to allow the more visual one of the two of us to actually see the end result!... And still be impressed!

I'm starting to build some leverage here, folks!

(Unfortunately, I don't have any before photos, but here are our after photos! Enjoy!)