Ivy - A serious environmental weed
 
There are 2 main types of ivy weeds in Banyule:

• English ivy  (Botanical name- Hedera helix) How to remove
• Cape Ivy  (Botanical names- Delairea odorata & Senecio angulatus)

Why is ivy a weed?

English ivy can climb 30 metres or more up tree trunks and branches. Once established, it is hard to control., because it grows roots from many points along its stems.
It can smother, damage and kill trees and plants in your garden, by

• Damaging the bark
• Preventing light getting to leaves
• Weakening the tree
• Preventing other plants from germinating in the soil

Ivy grows quickly and multiplies by seed, when carried off  by wind and birds.
Garden ivy spreads into neighbouring gardens and bushland, where it threatens native vegetation.

Cape ivy has 2 forms- both forms can smother plants and damage fences and sheds.
They can quickly cover vegetation to a considerable height.
Seeds are dispersed by wind.

Fragments of Cape ivy will re-grow if left in contact with soil. Roots grow from nodes along stems.
What you can do about ivy?

1. Remove all ivy from your garden, especially the stems growing on trees and plants.
2. Dispose of ivy in your green waste bin or take to the tip or Council Waste Recovery Centre
3. Check that ivy does not grow back.
4. Replace ivy with other climbers or ground cover plants that are not destructive.

 
What can you grow to replace ivy?

• For suggested alternatives, see Banyule City Council’s booklet- Indigenous Plants

Examples- Common appleberry (Billardiera scandens)  &  Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia violacea)

• Use your ratepayers’ plant voucher at Latrobe Indigenous Nursery  www.latrobe.edu.au/wildlife

 
by Pam Rowley, for the Biodiversity Committee, Montmorency Community Group