Down with English ivy!

Enough is enough! July 4 celebrated independence from England, but today, July 12, is a day to repel the aggression of English ivy!

A WORLD reader sent me an article from a county newsletter:

“You are invited to join members of the Georgia Native Plant Society on Saturday, July 12th, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., to help make the park what it once was. Imagine when Native Americans managed the land we now call Heritage Park: There was no English ivy, Asian wisteria, Japanese honeysuckle, or Chinese privet.”

Some businesses display “American-owned” signs on their walls, as if foreign ownership is inevitably evil. The article suggests Heritage Park should also embrace a nativist ideology: “The plants in the park that were there supported our native insects and wildlife. Did you know most non-native plants provide no benefit to native insects, birds, and other wildlife? With no checks and balances, they out-compete our native plants and wreak havoc on our ecosystems.”

The WORLD reader wrote, “You may be interested in this item for your magazine. I’m wondering how widespread of an effort it is to eradicate ‘non-native’ plants from American public parks to restore them to only Native American vegetation. Is it really true that ‘most non-native plants provide no benefit to native insects, birds, and other wildlife?’”

That question is way above my pay grade. I know what kudzu has done, but is English ivy evil? Could any readers help?