There are many simple things that you can do to help improve water quality, restore salmon habitat and enhance your property. We'll try to provide some tips and techniques that you can use to get rid of invasive, non-native plants as well as other steps you can take to create or maintain a healthy native plant community near your creek or elsewhere on your land.

Removing the blackberries that have taken over part of your yard will enhance your surroundings and give native plants a chance to thrive. A view of trilliums and bleeding heart flowers in the spring is much nicer than a thicket of old, brown berry canes. And if you decide to move and sell, prospective buyers will be glad that they won't have to tackle a blackberry thicket.

If English ivy has turned some of your shade trees into "ivy monsters," ready to topple in the next ice storm, you can fight back. On hot summer days you'll be glad that you saved those big trees and the shady oasis they create.

Please check out the Do It Yourself Restoration suggestions to see which ones will work for you. If you have a problem that we haven't covered please contact us. We may be able to help or refer you to another source of information or assistance.



Don't let English Ivy Ruin your Trees

The weight of large masses of ivy vines can topple mature trees especially during an ice storm. Mature trees enhance your property value, reduce erosion and provide shade for nearby creeks. By killing the ivy in the top of a tree you'll stop the vines from flowering and producing seeds. That means fewer new ivy plants, and less work, for you and your neighbors in the future.

You can save your trees from ivy by cutting out a section of every vine on the trunk of each tree. Use a pair of sturdy lopping shears and follow these simple steps:

1.	Make the first cut at shoulder height. Cut each vine as you work your way around the tree.
2.	Make the second cut at knee height. Go completely around the tree.
3.	Pull, or gently pry, off the cut sections of vines. Avoid damaging the thin bark of trees such as red alders. Check to be sure no vines are hiding in the furrows of the bark. As the cut vines die the leaves will dry out and fall off.

Now you have an ivy-free zone that you can keep clear as new vines try to grow back up the tree from the ground. Simply pull off them by hand while they're young and supple.

To make your accomplishment last even longer you can pull the ivy vines out of the soil so that you have a cleared circle around the base of each tree. For more tips on how to get rid of English ivy see the No Ivy League website. For advice on how to control other invasive, non-native plants contact the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council.