English Ivy is slowing strangling the trees in Glover Archibald Park and other sections of Rock Creek Park.

The National Park Service in partnership with Rock Creek Conservancy is hosting an ivy removal event from 1 to 3 p.m. today in Glover Archibald Park. They need volunteers to help combat these invasive ivy plants.

Glover Park resident Marla Leftwich called on her neighbors to help volunteers at Wednesday's event. As she explained in an email on the neighborhood listservs:

"Just by driving through our neighborhood and walking in our surrounding park, english ivy can be seen strangling, smothering and sucking the life out of the trees in our tree boxes, neighbors yards and worse (and much harder to get at and eradicate) all along the perimeters of our park behind W street between Huidekoper and 40th street and all along W street as it turns into 42nd street all the way up to Tunlaw Road."

According to a video from the Rock Creek Conservancy website, English Ivy was brought to the United States for its aesthetic qualities, but it has a tendency to push out native species of plants.

In the video attached to this article Rock Creek Conservancy Executive Director Beth Mullin, said English Ivy tends to "escape" residential yards and makes its way into the forest and up the trees.

"It eventually weakens and kills [the trees]," she explains.

Volunteers will be trained to identify and cut English Ivy.

The volunteer event will take place in the Whitehaven section of Rock Creek Park. Volunteers will meet at the corner of 40th Street and W Street, NW.

To volunteer you may go to http://www.rockcreekconservancy.org and register or email gp_ivy@yahoo.com.

To learn more about English Ivy, check out the recent article in The Washington Post's Urban Jungle section "Ivy: You say helix, I say hibernica."