My month of July was so insane and crazy I didn’t have a chance to be outside much or keep up with the plants. So it took me off guard when I walked by the Western Hemlock growing at the corner of our house and ivy was aggressively starting to climb up the tree!
Ivy is like a parasite on a tree. The ivy anchors itself to the tree bark and sends its roots into the living layer of the tree to draw out nutrients. The core of a tree is basically “dead” wood. All the life of the tree flows through its outer layer – the cambium layer.
I paused what I was doing in the moment and tried to pull the ivy off the Western Hemlock … but it was anchored fast! It was not budging! This is a job which will require some focused time and some garden tools.
If the small ivy vines are not removed, they will become bigger and bigger … as you can see this vine is doing here.
They will draw even more life out of the cambium layer. They will produce even more small ivy vines, which will anchor into the bark and begin sucking life out of the tree.
In time (if not dealt with) the ivy will grow until it completely covers the tree trunk from bottom to top. Ultimately it will wind up killing the tree.
Do you ever feel like the life is being sucked out of you? … like the ivy sucking the life out of the Western Hemlock tree? It’s not much, mind you. It’s just small strands of ivy here and there, down at the base.
As I stood back and took a look at the Western Hemlock, I was dismayed to see the trunk was also covered in dozens upon dozens of little drill holes from the Sapsucker Woodpecker!
Here is a close up for you to see better.
The little Sapsucker Woodpecker, drilling into the cambium layer as well, is also sucking the life out of the tree.
The thing is, the Western Hemlock has its own challenges just trying to grow tall and be a strong healthy tree. With summer temps rising into the 90’s the Western Hemlock is under considerable stress just trying to stay green and survive the heat of normal everyday life.
Then here comes the Sapsucker Woodpecker … sucking the life out of the tree on top of it all.
And the ivy likewise … sucking the life out of the tree too!
The Western Hemlock is not only trying to survive the stress and heat of normal everyday life, but it is also trying to protect & defend against pests and disease. Laminated Root Rot disease has been taking out almost all the other Hemlocks in the forest. The disease spreads from the roots of one tree to the roots of the next tree … until all the Hemlocks in the forest are eventually infected.
But this Western Hemlock is over next to the house. Its roots are not in close proximity to the roots of the other Hemlock trees in the forest. And thus it has not yet become diseased. It is a lot of work for the tree to remain healthy and strong.
Then on top of it all the Sapsucker Woodpecker and the ivy are sucking the life out of it!
Do you ever feel this way??
Do you ever feel like the life is being sucked out of you?
Life is hard. Life is really hard! It’s all we can do to survive the heat and the stress of everyday living. And then on top of it all we wind up having the life sucked out of us by situations that arise.
A disaster here. A crisis there. Drama layered on top.
It’s too much! It’s just too much!
What are we to do??
We obviously can’t get away from the heat and the stress of everyday living. That’s part of being a tree. That’s part of being alive.
And we obviously can’t get away from needing to protect and defend against “pests and disease.” (aka: scammers, people who intentionally try to take advantage of us, those who would cause us ruin, etc. …) Protecting and defending is an important part of living!
But we can make decisions about what we will allow to “suck the life out of us.”
The Sapsucker Woodpecker is certainly annoying … but it’s not taking that much life. Just a small swallow here and there. This will not kill the tree.
The ivy on the other hand … it is consuming and consuming! The ivy will continue to consume! Until it has consumed everything! The ivy will kill the tree! The ivy must go!
This right here is what we must do in life. We must step back and evaluate our life.
Regarding those things which are “sucking the life out of us” – what is annoying but not necessarily going to do us in?
And what is consuming us to the point that it will eventually consume everything? Whatever that thing is … it must be checked. It must be stopped.
If you feel like everyone is taking pieces of you … if you feel like the life is being sucked out of you … draw some boundaries. Don’t let “the ivy” consume you until it eventually takes you out.
