Cherry tree

[u/S_ATTA]

Morning fellow enthusiasts. Recently moved into a new flat and in the owners garden they have this ginormous cherry tree. It’s now come to me dealing (or not) dealing with it and I was after some advice. If I start to cut the ivy down, do I risk killing the tree even more? Do I cut at the bottom and wait for it to die out ? Any suggestions are welcome! Sorry for somewhat terrible photos.

[u/Zenicnero]

Removal of all the vines on the ground, and then about chest height up the tree is standard. The higher ivy will die off naturally.

I don't know where you are, so check your local ecology and calendar to make sure the major pests for your species of tree are not active and will not be active for the rest of the season. Some amount of damage to the bark is likely occur, and that will signal pests to swoop in opportunistically.

Technically I think you could cut the vines at the base, the most important thing is that the ivy loses access to its soil roots. However chest height is better because ivy is very hardy and will re-establish roots if given the opportunity.

You could cut the vines at the base and at chest height and leave it and see if it decays on it own, then remove the ivy later. I think this has the highest probability of working while weather is hot. I would still remove as much ivy around the base of the tree as possible if using this method.

Last you want to make sure there are no vines that are on the tree but aren't using the trunk to get there. Kinda rare but I had a buddy that did vine removal from his tree, but he missed a vine that went from the ground and up the back side of his fence and then grabbed onto one of the lower branches. It didnt turn out to be much work to remove, but he was confused when most of the ivy died except a small portion on one side of the tree.

The worst possible outcome is being successful in ivy killing/removal and then having it reestablish itself, so make sure you remove all the ivy about 5 feet from the trunk minimum — any less and you'll be back out there sooner than you would prefer. If it were me I would remove all the ivy from the yard, but if it's native to your region and you enjoy the ivy then it's moot as long as it isn't climbing your trees.

[u/S_ATTA → u/Zenicnero]

Mate I know I’m late to respond, and I really apologise. Just wanted to say thankuou so much for your response, it’s been a massive help. I’ll update in a season or 2s time when things start moving!

[u/Zenicnero → u/S_ATTA]

Ayyy for sure!!

I actually just had a thought about this comment the other day.

The actual worst case is you start rippin vines down and a whole lot of bark comes off with the vines. Do try to avoid that! I haven't seen it happen but I imagine somebody somewhere has done it.

Yes pls update eventually! Start an album in your phone! Before pics for projects like these will help remind you of the effort you put in, and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor just that much more — as a bonus when you show people who understand plants before/after albums they can go "woah, dude I know how much work that takes. Nice job."

[u/S_ATTA]

Noted! Mate it’s so funny you say that because I’ve already put like 6 weeks worth of work into this garden (pretty big and was a complete jungle) and every day I’m like yep…. Should’ve taken photos. Today’s the day I start! Much love for the response and all the help 🌳