English Ivy is native to western Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. It was imported to North America in the 1700s as ornamental ground cover and has since widely spread. It can be identified by its dark green, waxy alternating leaves growing on a woody vine both on the ground and as climbing vines. English Ivy grows and spreads rapidly making it one of the most impactful and difficult to control invasive plants. It quickly outcompetes native plants creating “ivy deserts,” and harms mature tree canopy, making trees more likely to die or fall.
