A big announcement for anyone planning on doing some summer landscaping, English and Atlantic Ivy is now banned from stores across Washington.
Michael Feerer with the Whatcom Million Trees Project tells us the plant is aggressive and chokes other trees.
“Ivy is destroying our tree canopy area slowly but surely,” Feerer said.
After almost three years of advocating for an ivy sale ban, The Whatcom Million Trees Project is successful.
“Ivy that’s put in yards not only threatens the trees in the yards, but it also leads to being spread by seeds,” Feerer said.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture agrees that ivy is an issue. Their new ban starts August 9th.
Feerer tells us this needed to happen because ivy burdens trees, and eventually becomes an issue for homeowners
“It starts to compete with the leaves of the trees, it weakens the tree, then the tree over time gets top heavy,” Feerer said.
He says ivy also prevents wildlife from living near trees.
“No other plants native or not can grow there wildlife’s not attracted to it other than rats.”
Any ivy on people’s properties or in parks doesn’t need to be removed, the statewide ban is only for new sales
He tells us there are several ways to protect your trees from ivy suffocation, including cutting it off from the base, cutting the ivy around the tree at about shoulder length, and removing it when you see new blooms.
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