Did you know?

• When ivy climbs trees, it smothers and weakens the trees until they slowly die.

• As it climbs fences and trees and matures, ivy produces berries favored by birds, who drop seeds, allowing ivy to spread uncontrolled into our woodlands.

• English ivy serves as a reservoir for bacterial leaf scorch, a disease in maples, oaks, and elms.

Take action:

• Remove ivy using the “Ring of Life” technique

• Replace ivy with native species such as Native wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) or Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

• Educate your community. Riva’s Glen Isle community created an Ivy Army, and Arnold’s Pines on the Severn Community organized a “Give Thanks for the Canopy” campaign

Learn more:

• Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas

• Anne Arundel Weed Resistance

• UMD Extension Office