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Post by OSUprof on May 13, 2021 21:29:27 GMT -8
Thanks for bringing up one of the most serious threats to our western Oregon environment. There is a big outbreak of English Ivy on Lewisburg Road northwest of Corvallis that originated at two homes along the road. This pest is moving through wooded private land to the north and west and is now starting to enter OSU's McDonald Forest. This pest is crowding out native vegetation on the ground and is actually killing small to medium trees in the area as it overtops them. Once in the forest, it will spread unchecked damaging much of the habitat.
The average person is clueless including the two homeowners as to the risk. They refuse to do anything to try to control the plant and the birds spread the berries to new sites from their properties thus causing the infestation to grow. Some in the area are trying to pull and spray the weeds but with a constant influx of new plants it is getting harder for them to keep up. The irony is that there is a lot of concern about climate change effects on the forest but the English Ivy will trash the place long before the climate can make its mark.
In Portland, they had an organization known as the no-Ivy League. Their aim was to counter this threat by removing as much as possible and organized pulling parties. Even the pesticide-averse Nature Conservancy of Oregon recommends killing this pest with herbicides and has produced a guide on how to kill English Ivy. |
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Post by beavheart on May 13, 2021 22:17:08 GMT -8
Thanks OSUprof. I didn't know about the org in Portland. Good to know some folks are taking it head on. That's encouraging.
I feel like turning the tide with Ivy will take an all hands on deck approach. We can carpet bomb the northwest with PSA's and organize communities against it which is essential to actually make a dent in it, but there has to be some leadership from the top. Need a serious plan, and federal and state level mobilization against it. No one from Portland is going to pull and kill Ivy at Fisherman Bend Park on the Santiam.
Also, for those concerned about herbicide use a good way to kill/treat Ivy (or any unwanted plant) in an area you want to limit it's broadcast is to mix Crosbow concentrate with diesel fuel about 3:1 and apply it with a sponge and gloves directly to the stalk and leaves of the plant you want to kill. Perfectly specific application pretty much every time, and it nuke's the living s%#t out of the plant. Again, seems like the perfect pastime for those who are doing 10 to 20 years. Fwiw, this is also a good way to kill the stalks left from large stands of blackberry after cutting it to the ground.
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Post by beavheart on May 13, 2021 22:25:29 GMT -8
Also, a good start would be for the state to simply remove the Ivy it has used as a freeway plant. It lines the concrete sound walls along I-5 in Salem. It covers different freeway interchanges throughout the state. It's overtaking all of the forested areas around 205. Removing all of that would be step in the right direction.
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rob85
Freshman
Posts: 308 
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Post by rob85 on May 14, 2021 3:44:37 GMT -8
My brother was a forest fire fighter and fuels assessment specialist for the BLM in Oregon for all of his career. My dad asked him once in the mid 90s what was the biggest threat to the health of the states forests. Over-logging, drought, fire, bug kills? His very terse answer was "English Ivy."
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Post by TheGlove on May 14, 2021 7:15:04 GMT -8
Why don't we just get out the forest rakes?
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Post by TheGlove on May 14, 2021 15:06:38 GMT -8
I have some nicer, more delicate ivy in the yard that is easy to control and does well as a ground cover, preventing erosion.
Also have a crap ton of St. John's wort and some ivy that is invading from the Northern neighbor. It sucks.
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Post by seastape on May 14, 2021 23:20:50 GMT -8
Tryon Creek...last time I was there, ivy was overwhelming the forests. Lewis and Clark have (or used to have) ivy pulls every year. Good thing or the forest would be overwhelmed by now.
Agreed. English ivy is a real disease that needs to be dealt with aggressively.
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Post by steinlager on May 15, 2021 22:12:04 GMT -8
Himalayan BlackBerry is another hard to control invasive plant but it does give some tasty berries.
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Post by Henry Skrimshander on May 16, 2021 9:12:31 GMT -8
We have some English ivy on a retaining wall between my house and my uphill neighbor's house. We trim it regularly.
But after reading this thread, no wonder I didn't sleep well last night. I was terrified it would grow through the window and strangle me!
In all seriousness, I've learned a lot I did not know, even without the input of our resident KIA. Benny's House seldom disappoints.
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Post by OSUprof on May 16, 2021 11:17:57 GMT -8
Like I said the average person has no idea about how serious of a problem this can be. Here's a link to inform folks of the dangers of this pest and what it can do:
We in the US are very lax when it comes to biosecurity while other countries take this very seriously. In this thread we've talked about out of control plants that were imported to Oregon and they run roughshod over our native environment because there are no natural enemies. These pests not only threaten our natural landscapes but they also threaten our economic well-being. Whenever I travel internationally I spend a lot of time properly cleaning all of my shoes and other items that have been in contact with the local environment before I return because I do not want to introduce a pest that would threaten Oregon. I flag myself when I travel to biosecurity concerned nations like New Zealand where me and my luggage are hand inspected by trained inspectors.
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Post by beavheart on May 16, 2021 11:34:17 GMT -8
Haha, well English Ivy isn't exactly a poltergeist, but if you're a native shrub in the PNW it might as well be.
I can think of a bunch of metaphors for the situation with Ivy, but maybe the most apt would be to release a couple sharks into a pond full of minnows. In the end, and in probably less time than you expect, there will be only one fish left.
The PNW is the "perfect storm" of environmental factors (mild climate, long growing season, humid) for Ivy to utterly proliferate. Not trying to be melodramatic, but it really is just a matter of time until this one gets out of our control, if it isn't already.
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on May 16, 2021 14:16:38 GMT -8
Russian tumbleweed, another terrible invasive species.
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Post by zeroposter on May 25, 2021 18:40:27 GMT -8
I am continuing my fight with invasive on my own property. Grumpy. Anyway, I was riding by the local, environmentally friendly solar farm tonight. Very fine except for the fact that every type of noxious, invasive weed that grows in our area is thriving in that solar farm. The Russian thistle from last year, obviously dead now, was highly impressive. Green energy???
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