While walking her dog past the grounds of Charlottesville High School, one of our most active Tree Steward volunteers couldn’t help but notice a problem: a pair of trees covered with invasive English Ivy. After getting permission from the school, she made it a personal project to save the trees. She cut the vines around the base of each trunk, leaving the ivy above to die and eventually fall away. If she had pulled down all the ivy, chunks of bark would have come with it, making the trees more vulnerable to pests and diseases. This dedicated CATS member continues to keep an eye on the trees and finds it quite satisfying to see the ivy begin to break down—one victory against a pervasive threat to Charlottesville’s urban forest. She also has spied other trees on the CHS campus that need her help, and she has added them to her to-do list.
