The ivy will eventually kill the hawthorn but ivy it's self makes a great hedge you can just add some fencing to keep it upright or as they do here grow it up the wire for putting in reinforced concrete. make a good narrow privacy hedge that doesn't require too much trimming.
The ivy won't kill the trees but it can add wind resistance when it gets high up and that could lead to them blowing over. It feeds itself from its own root system and uses the aerial roots just for support. Here's what the RHS says - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=192
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
The problem with our ivy in the hedge is that it has managed to spread (as ivy does) into our lawn and has taken hold. I would do whatever I could to prevent that happening if I were you Rebecca.
I would not remove it from the hedge as it is an ideal wind break as mentioned above. Just remove all the ivy runners, say 3 or 4 times a year (it shouldn't take long with a decent pair of secateurs and a bit of hand pulling out of as much root as possible).
I still think the advantages of the ivy far outweigh removing it completely. As for growing up tree trunks, I prefer to snip the ivy as low down the base of the trunk as possible.
I have an eight foot ivy hedge and manage it, as suggested above, by taking out runners and bringing it in a bit a couple of times a year. You can thin it by taking out some main stems, if needed. I would say to put ivy management on the regular to do list - a little work now and then keeps the ivy tasks from being overwhelming. In my experience an old ivy hedge can become a self-supporting structure in itself - robust and unlikely to blow over (unlike if it grows up a tree). The main stems in my ivy hedge are as thick as my wrist and not going anywhere.
Thank you everyone. I do prune back runners and have just completed plugging all the holes with hawthorn whips and replanted native hedge where the neigbour cut it back.
Posts
It's growing all over old trees and a hawthorn hedge which is around 12" thick.
The ivy won't kill the trees but it can add wind resistance when it gets high up and that could lead to them blowing over. It feeds itself from its own root system and uses the aerial roots just for support. Here's what the RHS says - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=192
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
The problem with our ivy in the hedge is that it has managed to spread (as ivy does) into our lawn and has taken hold. I would do whatever I could to prevent that happening if I were you Rebecca.
I would not remove it from the hedge as it is an ideal wind break as mentioned above. Just remove all the ivy runners, say 3 or 4 times a year (it shouldn't take long with a decent pair of secateurs and a bit of hand pulling out of as much root as possible).
I still think the advantages of the ivy far outweigh removing it completely. As for growing up tree trunks, I prefer to snip the ivy as low down the base of the trunk as possible.
I have an eight foot ivy hedge and manage it, as suggested above, by taking out runners and bringing it in a bit a couple of times a year. You can thin it by taking out some main stems, if needed. I would say to put ivy management on the regular to do list - a little work now and then keeps the ivy tasks from being overwhelming. In my experience an old ivy hedge can become a self-supporting structure in itself - robust and unlikely to blow over (unlike if it grows up a tree). The main stems in my ivy hedge are as thick as my wrist and not going anywhere.
Thank you everyone. I do prune back runners and have just completed plugging all the holes with hawthorn whips and replanted native hedge where the neigbour cut it back.