| Botanical Name: | Hedra |
| Life Cycle: | perennial vines /climbers |
| Planting Time: | spring or summer |
| Height: | ground cover or climber |
| Exposure: | full sun to partial shade |
| Soil: | average, well-drained soil; adaptable to most conditions |
| Hardiness: | zones 5 to 9 |
| Flower: | grown for foliage |
| Foliage: | lobed leaves in a variety of shapes (stars, hearts, shields) textures (ruffled, cuffed and smooth) and colors (green, gray, cream, yellow, veined and variegated). |
| Propagation: | division |
| Suggested Use: | ground cover, rock gardens, climbing, topiaries, window boxes, hanging baskets and houseplants |
| Growing Hints: | Purchase young plants or take cuttings from a friend. Plants root easily in soil or water. Do not feed newly potted or purchased plants for the first 3 to 4 months. Well-established plants should be fed every three to four months and repotted when they become crowded. Advertisement |
| Interesting Facts: | Ivy prefers 4 or more hours of sunlight per day, but will tolerate bright indirect light, like light reflected off of light colored walls, or artificial lights. |
This page contains the following solutions.
When boiling potatoes, save the cooking water. Let it cool off completely. Then you can water your ivy plants with the potato water. You will be surprised with how pretty, green, and shiny the leaves will get.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have two identical ivy plants on opposite sides of my yard. They both receive several hours of afternoon sunshine. Every August the one ivy shrivels up and dies practically overnight and the other one is healthy all summer.
The dying one looked as healthy as the other one up till a week ago. Can anyone tell me why this might be happening?
The dead vines maybe choking others.The top of your fence seems to get a lot of sun, verses the middle gets half and half, they like that.Not having such direct sun light!
We have ivy on the side of our house, much to my dismay. I have noticed that the part where we have terrible drainage the ivy dies off fast and the place where the drainage is good, the ivy is healthy as healthy can be. I know they hate having "wet feet". Maybe it is a drainage issue and the one that is dying has wet feet.
Post back with an update!
August is the hottest month of the year. The sun may be much stronger where the ivy is dying.
I have a 60 ft long 4 ft tall wooden fence that I would love to cover with ivy. I want it green all year round. Other than English ivy is there something else I can plant.
I want the look of a hedge without all the constant trimming. Routine maintenance is not a problem, however spending hours a couple times a year trimming and shaping is.if it were me, I would do a vine, such as honeysuckle. Ivy attracts centipedes...
Any vine on a wooden fence will trap moisture and cause rotting. Annual vines like morning glory, moonflower, sweet pea, and climbing nasturtium can be used, but should be removed at the end of the growing season.
Try honeysuckle, clematis, trumpet vine, morning glory, golden hops (Humulus lupulus 'Aureus'), jasmine, Abutilon 'Kentish Belle', Nasturtium 'Flame Thrower', sweet pea, or decorative gourds.
I have an ivy that I have grown in my bathroom for many years, it had climbed the wall and had great big leaves. My husband accidentally hit the stem with the door. I found the damage when I noticed the leaves seemed wilting. I cut it at the damaged part, pulled some of the climbing fingers off the wall and replanted it. Do you think it will survive? Or do I need to cut it down completely?
By Glenda from Wimberley, TX
I would have dipped it into rooting hormone first. You need to keep it moist to give it any chance.
I have 10 foot square chain link panels and I want to grow ivy to block view of their disgusting yard. Will ivy grow on chainlink? I'm in zone 7b according to a map per my zipcode.
By JD
Try Virginia Creeper--beautiful foliage changes colors in the fall. Place some thin strips of wood in the chain link to provide a "foothold" for the tendrils. Good luck.
Absolutely! But in a couple of years you may regret what you wished for. It may get out of hand.
A few weeks ago, I accidently applied the "Weed and Feed" fertilizer on the ground covering ivy. Now the ivy is dying. Is there any way to rescue the ivy? Please advise.
Ivy is considered a noxious invasive weed. It spreads uncontrollably, destroying native plants in addition to destroying building brick, siding, foundations and roofs. Don't rescue it.
Go to your local nursery and pick out a new, non invasive ground cover. Better yet, ask for something native to your area. Be sure and share that you have used weed and feed.
I completely disagree with sicl, I think that ivy is a beautiful vine and if properly mended and cared for can be nondestructive.
As for saving your plant, Is there a section that has not yet been affected by the weed and feed? if so cut it off and re root it. as for the rest of the plant I don't think that it is rescuable.:-(
I have a retaining wall around my house facing south. The people behind me are at a higher elevation, so their plants cause water damage to my wall. Would planting ivy be a good cover-up? The wall is always damp. Would I need a drip system installed?
By H. Gerber
Check out these photos.
I have six different ivies. I hope to add more to my collection. The only prerequisite is that the ivy be unique and totally different from any I now have.
I finally got something green to grow! All these years (a total of 40), I am ecstatic to see some thing green I planted and grew.
Climbing ivy is a good choice for certain uses in your garden, but it can also be problematic. This is a page about things to consider before growing climbing ivy.
