THE uncontrolled spread of ivy continues to threaten the region's oak tree population.

Jane Yerbury Sweeney, of Oswaldkirk, sent in these photographs of oak trees along the Helmsley to Kirkbymoorside road which "are rapidly being swamped by ivy".

Jane continues: "Designed to live for up to 1,000 years, these trees have been an important part of our lives and culture ever since Tudor times when we depended upon their stout timber to build the ships that defeated the Spanish Armada and also their domestic importance in providing the timber-framed houses that we can still admire because of the indestructibility of this wonderful wood.

"Up until the end of the Second World War, when 'hedging and ditching' was carried out by hand, the worker who was carrying out these tasks would automatically cut off any ivy that was beginning to climb the trunks of trees growing in the hedgerows and the managers of woodland would do the same.

"Now that so many of the 'maintenance' jobs in the countryside are carried out by machine, this kind of hands-on care no longer exists, with the result that the vast majority of oaks are almost obscured by ivy which, although not parasitic to the tree, does gradually swamp the branches and eventually the twigs, cutting off the sunlight that is the life force that enables the tree to live and grow to its full stature."

Landowners, she hopes, will take action to help oaks flourish, while allowing ivy to thrive on faster-growing trees, instead of the slow-maturing oaks.

To tackle the ivy, landowners should sever the ivy stems with a saw as near to the ground as possible. Such action would cause the ivy to die and eventually shrivel and fall from the branches of the oak.

Updated: 15:00 Wednesday, June 09, 2004