English Ivy

English Ivy provokes mixed to negative views in many people owing to its vigorous growth and potential damage it can cause to building structures. English ivy is not a parasite and supports itself through its own root system, they are not harmful to healthy trees contrary to the popular myth.  However, an excess of ivy can indicate poor tree health through a broken canopy that allows extra light for the ivy to grow.

Ivy can cover cracks, breaks and damage in the tree canopy whilst the extra weight can cause weak trees to break or fall at a faster rate. On the other hand, Ivy is useful within a horticultural setting as it is highly tolerant of shade and grows quickly. This makes it a suitable climber for north facing walls and can provide a green backdrop for showy perennials and mixed borders.

There are many cultivars of ivy, varying from the curled leaf ‘Parsely Crested’ to the numerous variegated forms that make ivy a versatile plant in a horticultural setting. Ivy can also be used in container planting as a trailing plant or quickly trained up pergolas and archways.

The dense foliage and branches provide valuable nesting space for many birds and bats whilst the nectar and pollen rich flowers provide autumn food for insects. The berries provide food for the newly hatched birds in the spring making Hedera helix a super wildlife friendly plant. Useful for wildlife, birds enjoy nesting within its dense foliage. The flowers provided early season nectar and pollen for insects and nutritious berries for birds throughout the winter. It can be pruned into shape anytime of the year due to its sturdiness as a plant.

Boston Ivy

Boston Ivy or Parthenocissus tricuspidata is a climbing vine found in Vitaceae or the grape family. Native to East China and Japan, Boston ivy is not a true ivy and is more closely related to the edible grape than it is to English ivy. Tricuspidata gives an indication to its main identifying features with a meaning of ‘with three cuspids’ large 3 lobed palmate leaves that turn vivid autumnal reds.

As qualified tree surgeons, we’ve undergone months of training.

To ensure the safety of our customers, we’ve invested in the finest equipment and safety gear. Up to date and appropriate insurance is of utmost importance, if we drop a small log onto your greenhouse or car in error, our insurance will pay out for that, and even more importantly our employee insurance will pay for any injury at work in often high-risk work environments. When we undertake a day of work for you we have health and safety policies as well as risk assessments in place. 

A basic day rate for pruning or felling a large tree may be in the region of £950 + VAT, which may seem like a big number, but for the peace of mind of getting a job well done by a reputable company, which is fully covering all of its overheads in insurance, staff training and top quality equipment, it is extremely competitive.

We are a small independent business, we love helping and working with local customers to solve gardening and troublesome tree growth issues!

There are several jobs that can be done in April to aid the lawn as it begins the growing seasons once again. Scarification is a good start. Scarifying is basically raking the lawn to remove dead grass and moss. You can do this with a lawn rake, or if you have a big lawn you can use a ‘scarifier’, a machine similar in size to a mower which has blades or wires which vigorously comb the lawn. Setting the blades too deep can make quite a mess of the lawn however, so be careful! Removal of dead grass or thatch, and cutting into the shallow roots stimulates lawn growth, encouraging thicker grass and discouraging moss.

Another good thing to start the growing season is the application of lawn sand. Lawn sand contains a mix of sand and ferrous oxide which changes the PH inhibiting moss growth: the nitrogen feeds the grass. In combination with sarification this can work really well in maintaining a flourishing lawn. Usually a lawn with a lot of moss will return to its mossy state after two years of simply cutting the grass wo its good to do the two treatments annually. Lawn sand can be applied several times in the season