Ivy gets quite bad press sometimes as it is believed it strangles trees. When in fact it is just using them for support. It has its own roots and feeds off its own nutrients so not interfering with the tree. Using the tree for support allows it to reach the sunlight. Trees that have ivy attached to them have huge wildlife benefits. During the autumn and winter, the berries, pollen and nectar are a valuable source of food to birds and insects when food is scarce and provides shelter to birds, bats and insects. The insects gorge on the highly nutritional berries before going into hibernation and it is a valuable food source to some butterfly and moth larvae. So before stripping ivy off a wall or a tree. Please take on board how valuable it is to wildlife this time of year and does it really need to go?
