Latest news with #WhatcomMillionTreesProject
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Washington bans sale of a common plant, deems it noxious weed
This story was originally published on The sale of a common plant will soon be illegal in Washington. Washington added Common (English) Ivy and Atlantic/Boston Ivy to its list of noxious weeds, which prohibits the sale and distribution of the plants, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture's (WSDA) website. The weed threatens trees by taking away sunlight, Susan Hutton, executive director of the Whatcom Million Trees Project, told The Bellingham Herald. 'English ivy is kind of an equal opportunity creeper,' Hutton said, according to the media outlet. 'It will come to a tree and it will start to climb it, and as it climbs the tree, it starts to compete with the tree's leaves for sunlight, and in the process, it gradually weakens the tree. Once ivy gets up into the crown of a tree, it's almost certain to kill the tree in a short period of time.' Ivy also increases the risk of trees falling in storms, as the vines add extra weight, King County stated on its website. Common and Atlantic Ivy can outgrow native plants on the forest floor, shrub layer, and canopy. 'When ivy takes over, it reduces animal foraging habitat,' King County wrote on its website. 'It makes it difficult for understory plants to grow and kills understory and overstory trees by shading them out.' The sap of ivy stems can also cause skin irritation for some people. Although the plant is quite a nuisance, it stemmed an idea to solve another annoying issue. A few years ago, former KIRO Newsradio host Dave Ross had the idea to use ivy to prevent graffiti. 'I noticed that along I-5 downtown, the areas with no graffiti have one thing in common: ivy. Ivy has spilled over the top of the retaining wall! Vandals want a clear canvas, and the ivy ruins that. So what we need is to cover everything with ivy,' Ross wrote on MyNorthwest. The idea stuck with KIRO Newsradio Traffic Reporter Chris Sullivan, who brought it to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) last year. He found out the City of Tacoma tried installing fake ivy in a handful of spots to combat graffiti. 'We had what we call the panels, which are a one-by-one foot panel of ivy, and then we have individual strands of it as well,' Rae Bailey, a Public Works Division Manager in Tacoma, said. 'We tried both of them in various areas throughout the city to mixed reviews.' Unfortunately, the panels didn't work well, but the individual strands of the fake plant did. 'We've had a couple of the strand areas get tagged in the last year or two, but for the most part, everything that we put up by the strands is doing its job,' Bailey said. Tacoma was planning to continue the fake ivy project, but then the pandemic hit, and it was no longer a top priority. The city was looking to start the project again, but the vendor went out of business, and unfortunately, the material was too expensive to install in large sections. As for the real plant, the ban will go into effect on Aug. 9. Contributing: Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio Follow Julia Dallas on X. Read her stories here. Submit news tips here.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Washington state bans the sale of common ivy varieties starting in August
A common yard plant could be on its way out of Washington parks and gardens. On July 9, the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced it was adding the English (also known as common) and Atlantic varieties of ivy, among other plants, to its noxious weed seed and plant quarantine. When the change goes into effect Aug. 9, the sale of the ivy varieties will no longer be legal in Washington. According to Susan Hutton, executive director of the Whatcom Million Trees Project, the banned varieties of ivy pose a threat to trees by depriving them of sunlight. 'English ivy is kind of an equal opportunity creeper,' Hutton said in an interview. 'It will come to a tree and it will start to climb it, and as it climbs the tree, it starts to compete with the tree's leaves for sunlight, and in the process, it gradually weakens the tree… once ivy gets up into the crown of a tree, it's almost certain to kill the tree in a short period of time.' Whatcom Million Trees Project, which promotes the conserving and planting trees in Whatcom County, has been pushing for the ban for two years, according to founder Michael Feerer. 'Approximately two or three years ago, we started getting involved with partnering with local agencies such as Bellingham city parks and Whatcom County parks to remove ivy. And the more and more we got involved and focused on it, we realized that one of the big facets of the problem was that nurseries, amazingly, were still selling English ivy throughout the state,' Feerer said. According to Feerer and Sutton, the plants became popular in Washington yards and parks as ground cover, before becoming widespread enough to pose a threat to the area's trees. 'People bought it innocently. Nobody knew that it was going to become this invasive problem that it has become,' Sutton said. Feerer said that WSDA reviews the list of banned plant and seed varieties twice a year, and advocates began working to get the ivy varieties added. 'English ivy and Boston and Atlantic ivy, which is the other ivy we have commonly out here impacting trees, was not on the prohibited plants and seeds list. So it's quite an involved process to try to petition to add something to the list, but we decided about two years ago to take on that process,' Feerer said. Whatcom Million Trees Project wasn't the only organization pushing for the ban. Nine different groups, along with several individuals, took part in the public comment process as WSDA considered the proposed amendments. According to WSDA, there was support for banning English ivy throughout the public comment period. 'Most commenters expressed appreciation and strong support for the proposed inclusions, particularly English ivy (Hedera Helix) and its cultivars,' the department said in its explanatory statement regarding the changes. Washington is now the second state, after Oregon, to ban English ivy, according to Feerer, but he hopes other states take notice and follow suit. The ban doesn't impact ivy that's already been planted. 'Nobody's going to come police your backyard, or anything like that. It's just no more selling it,' Hutton said. If you have ivy in your yard that you'd like to remove, Hutton said the process is relatively simple. 'It's actually really easy to do,' Hutton said. 'You stand in front of a tree, and you kind of go all the way around the tree, a 360-degree tour around the tree, and you identify Ivy that's between waist and shoulder height, so within easy range. What you're trying to do is just separate the ground from the ivy that's in the tree. So you make cuts in the ivy all the way around the tree, and then you just pull it down.' According to Hutton, once the plant is uprooted, you don't need to remove the rest of it from the tree. 'You don't have to worry about anything up in the tree, because once it's disconnected from the earth, that ivy will die because it's no longer being nourished,' Hutton said. The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board notes that it's important to wear gloves and protective clothes while removing ivy, since its sap can irritate sensitive skin. The board also recommends disposing of the vines or letting them dry out on a tarp, logs or hard surface, so they can't re-root. The ban only affects two varieties of ivy: Hedera helix, often called common or English ivy, and Hedera hibernica, known as Atlantic ivy. According to the Noxious Weed Control Board, English ivy is marked by alternating lobed leaves along its vines in its juvenile form, and a shrub-like adult form with egg and diamond-shaped leaves. Atlantic ivy has wide, dark green, five-lobed leaves, according to the United Kingdom-based Royal Horticulture Society. However, according to Feerer, there's an easier way to identify the invasive forms of ivy. 'Basically, if people see ivy climbing a tree trunk, that's one of the tree-impacting ones,' Feerer said. You can find more information on how to identify and remove ivy on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's website. In addition to the two varieties of ivy, 17 other plants were added to the list of banned species. Here's the complete list: Common (English) Ivy (Hedera helix) Atlantic/Boston Ivy (Hedera Hibernica) Spotted Touch Me Not (Impatiens capensis) Cape Pondweed (Aponogeton distachyos) Hanging Sedge (Carex pendula, Carex pendula subsp. pedula and Carex pendula subsp. agastachys) Green Alkenet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) Common Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, except bulbing fennel, F. vulgare var. azoricum) European Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum) Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) Sulfur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) Wild basil/basil savory (Clinopodium vulgare) Yellow Nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) Camelthorn (Alhagi maurorum) Russian Knapweed (Rhaponticum repens) Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) Rough Chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum) Turkish Thistle (Carduus cinereus) Palmer's Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri)
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WA environmental groups looking to ban sale of invasive ivy
Environmental groups are working to ban the sale of two types of Ivy in Washington state. They say English and Atlantic Ivy are invasive, and that those plants slowly kill everything around them. The petitions for the ban have gone to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) for consideration. English and Atlantic Ivy are common: you might even have it in your own backyard, but soon the sale of both plants could be prohibited. Advocates say that is the first step to stopping the invasive growth. Wrapped around trees, covering parks, and scaling city blocks, ivy has a tight grip on Western Washington. This coming as a stark reality check from Whatcom Million Trees Project founder, Michael Feerer. 'That's affecting thousands of trees throughout western Washington ranging along the coast from Seattle up here to Bellingham,' Feerer said. You might be wondering how ivy impacts you? Feerer said this is everyone's problem. 'As soon as it gets up in the tree canopy, that's when the tree is threatened. It will get top heavy then in a windstorm, which we seem to have a lot of, then it will snap off the top of the tree,' Feerer said. The snapped tree potentially falling on cars and homes, costing you thousands of dollars in repairs. Fortunately, there is a way to prevent that. 'All you have to do is cut around the tree, cut the ivy stems at waist height and peel down clear a little around the base,' Feerer said. 'You've basically rescued the tree right there.' However, Feerer says the issue needs to be cut at the root. That's where the sale ban comes in. If the plants are put on the state's 'prohibited plants list', nurseries can no longer sell them….but he tells us the ivy hasn't been as popular in at least a decade. In fact, he tells us there are several other ground cover plants available for sale that people are buying instead. Scott Brooks with WSDA says they have never seen so much support for banning a plant. 'We have Received petitions for 19 plants, two of which are these ivys we are talking about today, we hope to finalize everything this spring,' Brooks said. Both ivys are already on the state's noxious weed list, but if they become prohibited, Washington will be the second state to do so along with Oregon. The meeting to discuss which plants will get a spot on the prohibited list is coming up this spring. If the ivy ban is approved, the plants will be taken off nursery shelves immediately.
