Growing Ivy

Brego888

Anyone any tips and where to buy, how to grow or what type to get?
Thinking something like Boston Ivy as opposed to ground cover like English Ivy.
Looking to grow some on a side wall that gets little direct sun light. The wall is flat with no exposed brick work.
People seem to panic when you mention Ivy convinced that it will tear down any wall in climbs.

zagmund

It's evil.

z

zagmund

OK, well maybe not evil as such. It's just that it has a habit of taking over everything it touches. 5 years later and I'm still clearing out roots from a wall full of ivy that the previous owner planted some years back. In fairness, it can be decorative and it's an easy way to cover a wall. I think the main way it causes damage is when there's already a weakness in the wall and there's something (light) on the far side that is "attractive" to the plant. As it grows through it can cause further damage, but if you have a normal wall with no cracks then you should be fine. Despite the roots situation, there was no damage at all to the wall itself from the large amount I had to remove.

z

Dubl07

If you let it get any kind of a spread into the ground beside the wall, behind/under a shed or up a shrub, you'll rue the day.

HeidiHeidi

zagmund wrote: »

It's evil.

z

Dubl07 wrote: »

If you let it get any kind of a spread into the ground beside the wall, behind/under a shed or up a shrub, you'll rue the day.

+1

What's above/beside/behind the wall that you want to cover? Because the ivy won't stop growing when it reaches the edge of that wall.

I'm driven demented trying to keep ivy off the back of my house that's growing up from next door's garden. It also grows over the dividing wall between us and smothers anything I try to grow up my side of the wall.

It's an absolute menace.

There are plenty of climbers that are attractive, evergreen (Boston Ivy isnt, and is stringy looking in the winter) and will even have flowers if that's your thing.

Don't plant ivy!

If you put a small bit of effort into putting wires or a trellis up on the wall, you could plant a clematis. There are evergreen varieties, they're attractive (IMO) and they're much, much easier to control than ivy. They like their roots to be in the shade, so perfect for your non-sun-getting wall.

I'm sure there's loads of other options, but I wouldn't be the world's greatest gardener to put it mildly - go to a good garden centre and ask for advice.

zagmund

We actually had quite a problem getting rid of the bulk of our ivy. It was planted at the bottom of a 2 metre wall but because of the way the property lies there was a drop of about 6 or 7 metres on the other side. As pointed out above, ivy doesn't just stop growing when it hits the top of the wall. In our case there must have been a tonne of the stuff hanging down behind the wall.

z

sky6

zagmund wrote: »

It's evil.

z

It is evil although It can look nice. Like others I've been years trying to get rid of it from my old stone wall. It's even lifted 300 year old flags on top of the Wall by growing under them.
I wouldn't let it near a property.

Riverireland

Nothing to add but agreement with the others. Ivy is a nightmare!

the_syco

Looking to expand on some ivy, to cover up a hole. Basically it's IVVVVVVY(hole)IVVVVVVY, and the hole used to be used to jump into the field, but as I now have other access to the field, I want to plug the hole.

It looks better than barbed wire, and probably better for the environment/animals.

tomatofruit

driving across the country over the winter it was easier to see how prevalent ivy covering trees is, its everywhere and its awful, ive seen public run websites dedicated to stemming its spread in some states in America. i dont know if its classified as an invasive species in ireland, but it should be.

BelleMolly

I've got boston Ivy covering my garden walls and I love it. It's a great way of retaining a beautiful green view all year long.

The only growth that will stick to the wall is new growth so don't bother buying great long trailing branches because they won't grab on unless you pin them up.

I don't have any damage to my walls or my property but I am always careful to trim it back and keep it neat. Mine is planted alongside the Virginia creeper and some honeysuckle. The garden seems about twice as big as it did when the walls were bare.

bazbrady

Have to say i have a boston ivy on a garden wall,its down about 6 -7years and is not that invasive like other ivys.lovely colour in summer and stunning in autumn.not much maintenance to keep it in check,i think people are mixing it up with the more invasive types.one thing i was told by a very experienced gardener,mine wasnt doing too well at the start and finding it hard to stick climb the wall,he said it can be due to the plastered cement finish etc on walls or the sand in it,his advice was to paint on some polybond covering the wall,this worked a treat and it took off after this.probably not as big an issue on an exposed unplastered wall

bazbrady

some of the honeysuckle climbers are also very nice and are evergreen

lk67

tomatofruit wrote: »

driving across the country over the winter it was easier to see how prevalent ivy covering trees is, its everywhere and its awful, ive seen public run websites dedicated to stemming its spread in some states in America. i dont know if its classified as an invasive species in ireland, but it should be.

Both common ivy - and Irish ivy - are native plants to this country so can't be classed as invasive I presume and hope. Ivy is also one of the most ecologically important plants we have as far as biodiversity, and wildlife in general, is concerned.

Supercell

Second on the clematis, I've two varieties growing along wires on a north west facing fence which only gets an hour or so of evening sun for about 4 months at the year . Right now its absolutely smothered in blue and pink flowers, really nice. Far less invasive than ivy and easy enough to find varieties that don't need a lot of sun.

HeidiHeidi

lk67 wrote: »

Both common ivy - and Irish ivy - are native plants to this country so can't be classed as invasive I presume and hope. Ivy is also one of the most ecologically important plants we have as far as biodiversity, and wildlife in general, is concerned.

I agree with you in principle, but it's a complete menace in an urban garden setting, which (I think) the OP is talking about.

Supercell wrote: »

Second on the clematis, I've two varieties growing along wires on a north west facing fence which only gets an hour or so of evening sun for about 4 months at the year . Right now its absolutely smothered in blue and pink flowers, really nice. Far less invasive than ivy and easy enough to find varieties that don't need a lot of sun.

My lovely clematis which is constantly threatened by the bloody ivy from above (next door's ivy, unstoppable) has now succumbed to a fungus apparently :mad: You just can't win.

lk67

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I agree with you in principle, but it's a complete menace in an urban garden setting, which (I think) the OP is talking about.

I was specifically replying to Tomatofruit's comment. There's too much scaremongering about ivy in the Irish countryside...

Ivy - especially the smaller leaved variegated types - has it's place in an urban garden too but needs to be treated like a hedge and controlled. It's not a low maintenance plant.

LurkerNo1

Ivy is fine to plant as long as you choose the correct cultivars and there are many to choose from and many are very well behaved. Lots of scare mongering going on in this thread.