VASHON IVY
PROGRAM
Our Vashon Ivy Program advisory
team will work with you to organize your neighbors, family, and friends
to create neighborhood projects for ivy removal. This can help save
your trees and your land from the devastating effect of invasive ivy that
smothers the native shrubs and ground cover. |
|
BEFORE:
Although the green
growth on this tree is deceptively
attractive, the trunk and branches of this tree are completely covered
with ivy. If left alone the ivy will smother the tree and topple
it within a few years.
|
DURING:
This is the same tree after ivy
removal. It is no longer being slowly strangled, and will live out
its natural lifespan as part of the native ecosystem.
|
AFTER:
This is a healthy
tree after an
ivy infestation
has been removed
from its trunk.
|
TUTORIAL
Background. Effective
ivy removal is quite labor intensive so that is why we recommend organizing
self-help teams of neighbors, friends, and family to tackle the job.
Initially we
will focus on saving your trees. Later removing ivy from the ground
is also necessary. The goal of removing ivy from the trees is to
restore or preserve the native forest. Ultimately all ivy needs to
be removed and native ground cover restored.
Effective ivy
removal requires some basic knowledge of native ground cover to ensure
that whenever possible it is not destroyed in the process. Native
ground cover is desirable because it has deeper roots than ivy and will
help to prevent erosion and slides.
Technique. Beginning
at eye level, begin stripping the ivy from the tree, taking care not to
unduly bruise or breach the bark of the tree. Strip the ivy off the
tree down to the ground and then create an ivy-free circumference of 3
feet around the tree. This is a buffer against immediate re-infestation
of the tree. Later, ivy can be pulled from the forest floor, taking
care to leave any native ground cover intact.
Waste Disposal.Ivy
regenerates from cuttings, so every piece of waste ivy can potentially
represent re-infestation. Ivy waste should be removed from the immediate
area to a designated composting or chipping area. It can be piled
in discrete heaps to compost in your forest. Care must be taken in
this case to monitor re-growth around the pile. Waste can also
be taken to a recycle facility specializing in yard waste like The
Dirt Yard on Vashon. It can be chipped on your property and then
composted, taking care to chip it twice since it regenerates from cuttings.
Robert Bornn,
Laura Worth, and Erin Durrett are engaged in an innovative investigation
of whether low-cost, year-round heat for water and interiors can
be harvested from composting ivy and other invasives with a nature-integrated,
carbon-neutral technology. An educational demonstration about their
investigation of this invention will be available by appointment on Vashon-Maury
Island.
LINKS
No
Ivy League Summer Youth Crew The No Ivy League Youth Crew
in
Oregon is comparable to our neighborhood-based program with focus on youth
volunteers in public parks. Our Vashon Ivy Program focuses
on private land at risk.
Controlling
Ivy in the Pacific Northwest, by the Nature Conservancy.
Vashon
Parks District Volunteer Program
PLANNING
SERVICES
| 1. Together
we will walk the land in your neighborhood to identify high priority trees
that are at risk.
2. We will
guide you in contacting and organizing work teams of committed neighbors,
friends, and family; or we can assume this organizing task on your behalf.
3. We help
you prioritize and organize the work plan for the time that you, your neighbors,
friends, and family have available.
4. We can
facilitate a neighborhood meeting (if needed).
5. We can
facilitate an informal agreement with your neighbors to represent your
mutual intentions for sharing the work in your neighborhood.
6. We can
help you facilitate and organize the logistics involved in removing and
disposing of the ivy.
7. To lower
your cost, we suggest a neighborhood captain, someone who has an interest
in working closely with us. That person’s services from us will be
complimentary.
|
PLANNING
FEES
Fees for
these professional organizing and advisory services are for all size private
groups. Typically there will be at least two meetings and phone consultations.
It is anticipated that planning and facilitating each local neighborhood
ivy management project will cost approximately $300-$600. The fees
can be shared with your neighbors to reduce household cost. For example,
with 10 participating households it is anticipated that the per-household
professional fee will be about $30-$60.
TEAM BIOS
Erin
Durrett, Advisor
Robert
Bornn, Founder
Laura
Worth, Founder
LifeSense Institute
Advisory Board
Op-Ed
"All That's
Green Isn't an Emerald"....
by Robert Bornn
and Laura Worth
...
Please visit
BuildingCircles
Organization, Op-Ed.
Learn
what we can do to help you organize an ivy roots project
in
your neighborhood.
Get
started freeing your trees today!
Call
us. We can help.
(The Vashon
Ivy Program is a project of LifeSense Institute, a nonprofit corporation)
YOUR SUPPORT
We are actively
seeking participants and donors for the Vashon
Energy Project and the Vashon Ivy Program.
In-kind-donations
(services, materials, and equipment) are welcome. We anticipate collaboration
with a network of local and worldwide professionals with expertise in relevant
fields. We are forming a dynanmic advisory board to optimize our projects.
If
you have interest, please
contact us to join our
mailing list, learn of sponsored informational events, and programs and
activitites.
