Q.What could have cut through the stems of my ivy?
I have ivy growing down a 6 foot slope, 30 feet wide. The ivy has been there for 50+ years with no problem. Recently it began to die back suddenly. I discovered the dying stems were cleanly cut, on the diagonal, as with sharp clippers, at the top of the slope where it is rooted.
I maintain the yard, and did not cut the ivy. My lawn service denies cutting it as well. They only use a weed-wacker along the top of the slope, to trim the ivy back from the lawn area. They’ve done this for many, many years with no damage to the ivy. There’s been no other workers doing any work in the area of this slope.
Could this have been caused by a pest of some kind? The stems are not chewed or bored, but appear cut very cleanly across on a diagonal.
"the dying stems were cleanly cut, on the diagonal, as with sharp clippers" - I can't think of any pest that could do this. It must be someone with a sharp object. Is the weed whacker a string trimmer or is it bladed? An inexperienced or careless operator with a blade brush cutter could possibly make some out of control cuts. Any possibility of a kid slashing indiscriminately with a machete? Somebody trying out a new pruning shears without due regard to what they were cutting?
