Ivy is a climbing plant that is one of the so-called self-climbing plants. Nevertheless, ivy often needs a climbing aid because the plant uses adhesive roots to climb upwards. What does a suitable climbing aid for ivy look like?
Which trellis is suitable for ivy?
A suitable trellis for ivy provides enough support for adherent roots and can consist of wooden fences, walls or trellises. With metal fences, shoots must be guided manually. Additional trellises on house walls prevent damage to joints caused by ivy roots.
Suitable climbing aids for ivy
Basically, all trellises, fences and walls are suitable as a climbing aid for ivy. The prerequisite is that they give the ivy's roots enough support. The adhesive roots must have the opportunity to hold on to the material.
Wooden fences are well suited because they provide sufficient support for the roots. Walls also offer enough detention options.
The situation is different with metal fences such as chain link fences. The adhesive roots cannot anchor themselves to these materials. If you would like to plant such trellises (€95.00 on Amazon) with ivy, you must initially guide the young shoots through the individual meshes by hand.
Be careful with house walls as climbing aid
Ivy generally does not need any special climbing aid on house walls. However, you should consider whether you should install a trellis. This also applies if the wall is very bright and reflects the light, as in this case the ivy turns away from the wall.
The ivy roots penetrate into leaky joints. There they develop into real ivy roots, which in the worst case can blow up entire joints.
For facade greening, only plant ivy on walls where the joints are very tight, or use an additional climbing aid.
Tip
Growing house walls with ivy provides good protection against graffiti and graffiti sprayers. Especially in large cities, ivy can save a lot of money because the walls don't have to be constantly cleaned.
