Conifer covered in ivy

Hi all,

I have a conifer at the back which I think is covered in ivy. It seems to be taking over slightly so I was thinking of trying to cut the ivy back, but a tree surgeon told me that under the ivy the conifer will be brown and dead and won’t grow back. He said my only two options would be to let the ivy completely take over the tree or cut the conifer down. Is this true? I don’t really want to do either options so I was wondering what is the best course of action?

I also have another big section of ivy in the garden that I have questions about but will leave that for another day!

Thanks

 

I totally agree with your tree surgeon. There’s no saving the tree under the ivy if it’s a conifer.

I would either keep it as it is (getting the tree surgeon in every few years to trim) it’s amazingly good and important for all sorts of wildlife … or get rid of the whole lot in the autumn, replenish the soil and replant with something else.

The importance of ivy | Shropshire Wildlife Trust

 

Mature ivy is also attractive, in my opinion. The flower heads are quite structural and you get quite a long period of interest as they take some time to open and then develop black berries. As @Dovefromabove says, great for wildlife

 

Thanks, that’s a shame. I think I will have to get this cut down and replant another tree. Any recommendations for fast growing trees as I think the conifer/ivy tree stops us from being over looked. There is another section of the garden with mature ivy which I’m happy to leave and will just trim back occasionally.

 

The problem with fast growing trees is that they are usually far larger than you would eventually want such as Cherry Laurel, Leylandii or Thuja.

It’s worth looking at a proper tree nursery site, Majestic Trees are possibly the nearest for Bedfordshire. They usually have good search facilities and accurate information, also a good range of tree sizes