Hi again!
I have a gorgeous, very tall, mature oak. Unfortunately, it's COVERED with poison ivy. The vines are thicker than my husband's thigh.

I asked him to sever the roots with the chain saw, and have been carefully putting Round-Up on the severed ends of the poison ivy. I've been trying extremely hard not to get any on the tree.

My question is how to get the poison ivy off the tree once it's dead? Will it damage the tree to pull it off? I'm afraid those horrible, hairy roots might harm the bark.

Also, is there care and feeding I need to know about oaks? This one is rather spindly way up, because it's never been taken care of. It's so beautiful I want to maintain it.

Thanks,

Christine

Reply to post by Christine, on April 04, 2003 at 13:43:10:

Yes the holdfasts from the vine will take off some outer bark. Not likely fatal, but best to wait until vine is dry-dead and "lets go".

An arborist can help you manage the oak tree. See www.asca-consultants.org or www.isa-arbor.com