Ivy

[aockenden]

I just found this volunteer Ivy starting to climb our north wall. I truly love the appearance of an Ivy-adorned stone wall but I know there may be downsides to letting it persist.

Dogma aside, what are the real risks to a 3 foot thick stone wall which was throughly repointed 2 years ago with NHL 3.5?

 

[Cubist]

I'm no fan of the stuff and solely due to the damage it can to masonry - but more importantly to me - to trees, and I will frequently be found touring our place with a bill-hook n hand and a sturdy knife within easy reach to cut and strip away offending growth. Trouble is its pernicious stuff and merely cutting it at ground level or pulling it out by hand leaves much of the root structure in place, so it will be back almost as soon as you turn your back. Which leads me to the fact that it's the roots that pose the problem rather than the surface greenery. Not long after we took this place on I found an ivy plant that had killed no less that five mature trees and for a while there I ignored what had appeared to be a misshapen 12 inch diameter tree trunk only to find that it was in fact the main stem of the ivy!

Yours is a long way from that but you would be wise to periodically cut the growth near the ground and kill off some of the underground root structure near the walls if you're planning on still being there in 20 years time.

 

[Kearn]

Having removed very established ivy, you’d be amazed at the size of the trunk and underground roots. It’s does indeed find its way through the pointing and into joints to grab on, making holes as it goes…

 

[fernicarry]

It squeezes into all the gaps in the dry stone walls and even grows inside my garage. In winter the trees that should be bare are festooned with it which makes them more susceptible to storm damage. We're supposed to embrace it because of its wildlife value but zero tolerance from me and definitely wouldn't let it near the house.

 

[CliffordPope]

A strand of ivy like in the picture looks harmless, and a wall covered in it looks picturesque. But ivy winkles its way into cracks and gaps round stones and woodwork and can then expand to an incredible extent. It's trunk can grow to 3" diameter or more, slowly forcing a building apart.

 

[a twig]

Destroy it with extreme prejudice!

You could consider:
Virginia creeper
Clematis
Honeysuckle,
Climbing hydrangea
Star jasmine

as better looking and non damaging alternatives.

If you have the time to manage it wisteria can look stunning as well

 

[aockenden]

My dreams of an Ivy-covered stone house now lie as dead as the Ivy plant itself...

 

[Stevers]

The Virginia Creeper that I gave my mother although pretty was so vigorous that it must only be for the very brave or....

The Climbing Hydrangea on the other hand is both lovely and very manageable. Creepers in general ought to be kept away from eaves, verges, gutters and roof though.

 

[aockenden]

Just out of curiosity, what about Ivy on a new build extension. I was hoping to grow something up the big flat straight block walls (after doing a lime render) to give it some more character and break up all the whitespace.

 

[fernicarry]

To be fair friend of mine has ivy on a harled wall and it doesn't seem to have caused any damage. Grows like a ***ard though. He needs a scaffold tower to get up to it to perform surgery. He likes it. I don't.

 

[Cubist]

My dreams of an Ivy-covered stone house now lie as dead as the Ivy plant itself...

Keep your eyes open...it'll do an Arnie on you for sure.

 

[stuart45]

Thick stone walls seem to suffer more than thinner bricks walls. I've rebuilt quite a few stone walls over the years. It's probably because the joints are bigger, and suffer more from shrinkage cracking. Also there's often more voids inside which allow ants to bring soil into the wall and build nests. Here's one I did a few years ago that was full of soil, ivy and other plants.

 

[lizziecupcakes]

Beautiful leaves but i prefer climbing roses and snipping away the excess foliage they bring

 

[Cubist]

Among the veritable litany of features that collectively conspire to confirm the status of this old place as a country cottage, there is a single climbing rose that has been cultivated to adorn the porch. Each year it produces a plethora of blooms the colour of an old Merlot to brighten this main entrance to the house and the gentle breezes waft the fine scents indoors much to the delight of the occupants. However, not all the said occupants are obliged to clamber up on a ladder and around the roof of that porch, risking life and limb in efforts to 'dead head' the beast and snip out those sneaky stems looking to secure an inconvenient hold among the porch timbers and tiles and not forgetting the thatch above. Periodically too that same operative must also find ways to ease its mass away from the external walls to allow access for a new coat of whitewash to be applied which can be no small task given that its main stem at ground level is near six centimetres thick.

Said operative wouldn't mind so much but for the fact that this is just one of many cultivated and wild roses scattered randomly about this place that pose serious puncture wound threats that can defy even welders gloves and chainsaw leggings if approached unwarily.

All that is yet to come this year but its harbinger has already arrived in the shape of a much needed height reduction of the 10-12 foot mixed hawthorn, blackthorn and holly hedge fronting the property and yours truly is already the pained possessor of dozens of punctures and scratches from head to ankle despite all my armour - and I've still to shift the cuttings the 100 metres from the house so I can burn the waste. I'm not having a good week!

 

[skybloo1]

Re Ivy and trees - this from the Woodland Trust

Ivy (Hedera helix) - British Wildflowers - Woodland Trust

Get our top identification tips for ivy plants with pictures and discover its wildlife benefits. Find out the answer to the question: does ivy kill trees?

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

 

[CliffordPope]

I dispute their statement that ivy does not harm trees. I've seen a magnificent pine tree pulled over by the sheer weight of the mass of ivy branches tangled in it.

 

[Cubist]

I've been aware of this Woodland Trust article for some time and from a science based perspective I cannot push back. Nevertheless I have always held that the articles author is splitting hairs on an entirely false premise. True, ivy does not directly kill any tree it might infest BUT it can and often does deprive it of sunlight thus inhibiting its ability photosynthesise or aids wind damage collapse and/or permits it to become diseased and die.

In essence the author is differentiating on the basis of intent - maybe not murder but manslaughter would be most analogous. Either way the trees dead.