Vines up trees? Yes or no poll?

Eric Frei

Some of this could come down to your climate, type of vine etc.

But overall I'm of the opinion that vines up trees are definately off the to do list, they offer little benefit and most often cause problems.

What's your take on it?

http://www.treesatlanta.org/vines.html

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TREE-SURFER

English ivy, which has a habit of covering the trunk and canopy, tends to create a larger sail area for the wind to catch, creating more resistance and subsequent failure. Our local highway depot once used to cut a ring around the base, taking out about a foot and a half of the base run of ivy. In turn, would die and rot away. But no more........ Come the winds, (usually Feb) the roads get blocked off with, wait for it.....Ivy coated trees.. Arn't they great?

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yooper

I voted no way...but started to wonder....gee if they where grapes i could make a little whine......na dont think so i like my beer........boy i hate trimmen trees with vines and hate more tossen that crap in my chuck and duck chipper

Eric Frei

And why are they always bloody well itchy?

We got some sinister vines here, bougainvillea is a shocker, and that cactus crappy thing.

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jim1nz

no no no

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Drouin Tree Service

Cant stand vines, ive yet to see one being benificial.

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Sean Freeman

I like native Dutchmans pipe, food plant of the Cairns Birdwing butterfly, native Wistaria Millettia megasperma very pretty in the forest around Qld NSW border. Bower of beauty Pandorea jasminoides that heaps of people seems to grow these days.

So I voted depends on the vine

SF

TreeCo

Yes, depends on the vine. I live in a house built in 1890 and in the yard we have english ivy up several trees, some quite thick. I cut a one foot section out of the vine stem to kill the vine but it grows back up the tree from the ground. This does not worry me as I will cut it again every few years. Sometimes I will spray the vine on the ground for a whole summer to kill it if I don't want it to grow up the tree again.

I do believe large vines are bad for trees. We have wild muskadines sixty ft. up trees back in the woods. Stems are over one inch in diameter. I've cut hundreds of them off at the ground. I figure it sets them back a bit. The will regrow but it takes a long time and in heavy shade they usually just die.

We have kudzu in a few places too. Now that is a vine from hell!

I hate to think of the tropical vines you guys must deal with. Our low temp was 22F last night.

Eric Frei

Have a look at this link and the pics, what's your take on it?

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=282

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TreeCo

I've never seen the bark flake off like in the one pic at that site. The most common vine I see is english ivy and when small it's not much of a problem but when it gets large I'm concerned. I'll get some pics of a few trees where I've removed ivy.

Munkee feet

I say knot..espically westerera.

jim1nz

Nice little link Ekka, yea i have seen some nasty cases of yines up trees creating there own little habitat in branch crotches causing them to rot. It was only real bad if there was a pruning wound created and then the vine grew up before the wound had compartmentalised.

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kauriman

Some native vines in NZ are quite rare or endangered. Some vines like the rata [I][/Meterosiderus robustaI] are like the strangler fig and take over from the host over decades or centuries. Some vines are invasive weeds that take over native from vegetation. So depends on the species and the location. Is it a native? are you in a backyard in the bush?

I once had to dismantle a Chirosia speciosa a spiney best at the best of times, yet it was covered with english ivy that covered all the thorns. It was like the thorns had been wraped in cotton wool. In that case the vine was good even though it was a weed. We killed the ivy as well as the chirosia on that job.

Jeff Darby

No,creates to many problems!

but to each their own.

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JohN Dee

I voted should be removed, but not by me (Pesky things).

Ekka, with the bougainvillea you treat it the same way you would a Washy, douse it with petrol, flick a match and run


Fixed your tree hugger emote(Will prolly' fix your dancin' one when i'm not so tired ), made it transparent and added a small animation.

Eric Frei

Thanks mate, I just ripped it off and replaced our one.

Cool, you guys are handy 3D gif makers.

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Marc

It depends imo, generally we remove climbers from trees but not always, english ivy can be a real problem but you also have to look at the enviroment its in.

Specimen trees in gardens and public areas we will remove invasive climbers, especially on veteran trees. Ivy can be a big problem as it can hide defects and allow plant material and other debris to collect in unions etc.
Maybe it can cause the bark and cambium damaged like in one of the pics in this thread although not a common occurance, at least I think so, the damaged could be caused by other factors? not 100% sure on that.

Sometimes though we leave climbers like ivy as its a natural habitat for birds and insect and is part of a natural ecosystem especially in woodland type enviroments. Ivy's are also one of the last flowering plants providing a valueble food resource for wildlife.

Ornamental vines/climbers are different, like I said with a specimen tree we will often reccomend removal, but in some situations the host tree is nothing more than a support for the climber.

osb_mail

I put depends most vine are going to compete with the for light and root space but it is pretty cool to see a apple tree covered in wisteria that is in full bloom .

sharpend

All vines with the exception MAYBE of some rare or endangered species {Kauriman} should be removed. But most times it seems to me that they present more of a problem than any kind of astetic appeal they may offer. Out our way, my personal favs.[NOT] are bittersweet, poison ivy,clematis i've seen, wisteria [voracious], and a couple others. They do contribute to if not become the epitomy of wind sail. They hide trunck defects provide a home for vermin , insects & all manner of other suprises for climber.My all time fav. remains wild grape. It can and will junp from canopy to canopy if left unchecked. KILL THEM ALL!! There is a place for every thing,in the urban enviro. there is no place for vines. Though this is most probly an older topic, so this reply of mine ain't too likely to be read by many ,but it's my take on that, Thanks

dguntertrees

I reckon it depends on the vine and the situation. if its native and you've got a bit of a rainforest garden going on.....then vines are part of the whole thing and should be retained. they're a big part of forest ecosystems.

mdvaden

On anther site, some of you may have seen my post about the giant poison oak vine on a coastal redwood.

Suppose that tree and vine were in my yard - I would have kept it.

Not impeding the tree; nice fall color, not invasive.

Its estimated to be over 150 tall with a 4" to 5" diameter vine trunk. See attachment.

Can only get part of it in the image. I may hike there in a week or two, and my video camera might be able to follow it up the tree.

Attached Thumbnails

 

groundpounder

Vines growing up a tree in an urban setting make me nervous. They can hide serious structural defects, and the client will rarely let you cut the vines back to have a look. I almost always recommend removal of vines.

sharpend

M.D. Vaden,Holly Cow!! That's a vine! No wonder you would keep it,if one should ever need to climb it, no need for a rope! On the serious side Iwould love to see more of the canopy,but if memory serves ,those pics. may not be easy to get.

mdvaden

About the only reason I knew it was poison oak, was I saw it in autumn and noticed the red fall color way up yonder. My 10x zoom digital wouldn't zoom far enough.

If I hike there next weekend, I'll try the 30x zoom of my video cam and see if I can follow it up the tree. Too bad it won't have autumn color. But then - it might have color. A lot of those here do get red leaves in summer.

With our house for sale in Southern Oregon, every hike is almost like the last, not knowing what lies ahead.

mdvaden

Going to test loading a video file with the short one I did of the Giant Poison-oak vine.

Couldn't even see the foliage this time. So high - autumn is the only way to see it when its red.

Anyhow, all-in-all, the vine is not constricting the tree, and the foliage is not too broad from what I saw. I think the vine that does show, gives an idea of how much foliage would have been there over the years.

If anyone happens to hike Hiouchi Trail across the Smith River from Jedediah Smith Campground day use area, the log I'm almost brushing my shoulder against in beginning of the video is your clue that the vine is just ahead on the right (up a bank about 12' from the trail).

Most people I talked to on this last weekend's visit camping at the coast and hiking in the redwoods, were from othere countries and states. Netherlands, India, Canada, Michigan, South Dakota, Etc..

Attached Files

giant_poisonoak150.wmv (1.47 MB, 108 views)

treeseer

it depends, of course--silly!

"?No cut without a reason, you got it? Electra smiled. ?Vines can be vile or valuable, according to the observer?s view. That is Campsis radicans, trumpetcreeper, and the next tree has Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper. They are clinging vines, not twiners like Wisteria floribunda and Lonicera japonica, which strangle the trees that support them.?

Ms. DuBois glowed. ?I?m so glad you know that, young lady. Mr. Dendro included the vines in his original landscape inventory. He knows that my favorite color is red. The first vine has red flowers and the second has red leaves. I also love the way they form a natural area as they creep along the ground.? Codit stashed the hand pruners back in his holster as he went back to the front yard.
"

Eric Frei

Mario,

Did that vine grow from the bottom up or start at the top of the tree and grow down?

Not a stupid question as strangler figs start as a seed dropped at the top and grow their roots down.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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mdvaden

Bottom - up.

Yes, a lot of stuff germinates up in rewoods, especially if there is some decay overhead.

Eric Frei

So, it can handle a lot of shade on the forest floor yet grow all that way, impressive!

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mdvaden

I've seen it in shrub form in shady areas. In fact, I think my Collings Mountain Trail Video with the Bigfoot Trap showed a big patch in the shade.

Where that giant vine is, there are short ones nearby, many in the sun, quite a few in part shade.

The vine on the tree has most of its leaves up in the redwood. I think as the redwood grew taller, the vine kept pace with it. That redwood is probably a couple of hundred years old. I would not be surprised if the poison-oak vine on it is over 150 year old.

Most poison-oak vines I've seen, and others near there, are more like 10' to 50' up the tree, and have a lot more foliage from knee level all the way up. Part of the lack of leaves may be because the stems are just to big to have leaves on them, except the smaller stems up high in the tree.

I've never seen a poison-oak vine ever, before, where I could not see the leaves in summer. My guess is 170', but if the vine is near 200', it wouldn't surprise me.

I have a very strong scope at home that I may backpack in there next time, and see if I can go off the trail and find an angle to see the tree top.