As romantic as a wall covered in ivy looks - before you consider adding ivy to walls in the garden, you should think a few things about it. The climbing plant can cause severe damage to the masonry and is difficult to remove from the garden.
What should you pay attention to before planting ivy on a wall?
Before planting ivy on a wall, the masonry should be solid and undamaged, dark in color and sufficiently distanced from neighboring properties. Care effort through regular cutting and later removal of the ivy must also be taken into account.
These requirements should be met
Before planting ivy on a wall, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
- Wall must be solid and without damage
- dark color
- Distance from neighboring properties
- Care effort (cutting)
- later removal of the ivy
Ivy climbs up walls using it. These adhesive roots are very absorbent and have sufficient grip even on quite smooth surfaces. This makes it all the more difficult to remove them later. Ivy always leaves behind residue that you have to remove by hand.
If the wall has damage such as loose stones or leaky joints, it will be further damaged by ivy. The supply roots of the ivy penetrate into the leaking areas and become established there. They are getting thicker and thicker and in the worst case scenario they can crack the masonry.
Placing ivy on dark walls
Ivy will hardly grow on a very light wall. A white surface radiates light, but ivy is attracted to darkness. The climbing tendrils find no support and the shoots eventually fall down.
Caring for ivy on the wall
Ivy on a wall needs little care. You don't even need to cut it back if it's a freestanding wall. Then you can simply let shoots that are too high climb and place them over the climbing aid.
Nevertheless, it is recommended to trim the ivy at least once a year. Above all, you need to regularly remove climbing vines that grow along the ground. Otherwise, after a while the ivy will take over the entire garden.
Remove ivy from wall
- Pull off the tendrils from top to bottom
- Remove adhesive roots with wire brush (€4.00 on Amazon)
- Check damaged walls for stability
Tip
If you want to permanently remove ivy, you not only have to cut the ivy, you also have to dig up the root. To do this you have to dig up the ground deeply.
