A while ago, a reader and a business associate asked me to identify a plant that had climbed up a tree and was in bloom that year.
I recently got a similar e-mail about English Ivy in the yard of one of my readers. This first business associate had a side yard that had several types of plants that grow vines.
I could see poison ivy, Virginia creeper, and English Ivy. English Ivy or Hedera helix was growing as densely in this small shade garden as a plant could get.
It was not going to be simple.
My old boss advised that we would have to spray some of that commercially available Roundup at least three times to finish it, and that we would need to expect serious weed growth each time we sprayed it.
As I recall this was the first time I looked at the English Ivy challenge. I saw how to address English Ivy. The waxy surface of the English ivy leaf is uniquely challenging.
I do not like using Roundup at all, but my old boss suggested three Roundup applications at different times of the year. Another solution
I have found is to weed out the ivy and replant quickly with another invasive plant, like myrtle. Myrtle can begin to catch up if you plant it among the old ivy as soon as the poison dissipates.
If you continue fighting the ivy, the myrtle will have a chance to replace the ivy. We shall discuss a variety of solutions later. Â
While I was taking my landscape classes at Ohio State University – Agricultural Technical Institute, I had a Professor who related a fascinating story about English Ivy.
My professor served as the chief caretaker at the University of Virginia. One of his most significant challenges was battling English Ivy that had begun to attack the historic brick-and-mortar buildings on the campus.
His battle is noteworthy because English Ivy shows that you need to deal with it. This shade-loving vine grows tendrils that function as hold-fasts and roots at the appropriate time.
These tendrils caused severe damage to these buildings. Tendrils on the vines had worked their way into the mortar and were working the mortar out of the joint.
What he said is, “Ivy had worked its way so well through the mortar that there were vines inside various buildings.”
Damage was widespread on campus and required extensive repairs. All of us should keep these sorts of issues in mind as we install aggressive plants such as English Ivy.
English Ivy leaves change. As the ivy climbs trees above 20 feet, it changes its form from a 3- to 5-pointed, simple, evergreen leaf. It grows to a rounded, blooming vine.
Juvenile leaves mature into the adult leaf with one point or lobe, and the ivy also blooms as it gets taller. It is essential to keep in mind that the plant is highly toxic, and you should keep young children away from the berries.
The longest ivy vine on any tree recorded 90 feet in length. The tendrils of the ivy vine cling so well to the bark of the tree that, as you remove a live vine, you will also potentially remove the bark of the tree.
As I have learned more about English ivy, I have found that if you cut sections of the vine at the base of the tree, remove them, and let the vines die naturally, you can safely remove the vine from the tree, leaving the bark intact.
English Ivy competes well with all trees; this means that, if you had a healthy tree with this ivy clinging to it, you might lose the tree over time.
The ivy would have stripped the bark from the tree, killing it. Triclopyr or Vine-X kills English ivy if you apply it with a paintbrush, not by spraying.
One other thing to know is that this poison breaks down quickly. Now would be a good time to use this product, since more sap is flowing to the roots for storage.
Spring will be a greater challenge, as sap is flowing from the roots, which is why the advice is to kill the ivy now.
The aggressiveness of this plant warrants this kind of action. There are a number of solutions to kill this aggressive plant. Solutions that are not quite so toxic will be discussed in the future.
I hope that you had a great stroll through your garden this week. If you have any gardening questions, please e-mail me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.