Thanks fellow gardeners?
Melanie

- Brent

You can also start rootless cuttings from ivy quite easily. I generally use a rooting hormone such as Rootone, but only out of habit... I doubt that it makes a big difference.

Starting ivy from cuttings works best in spring and early summer. If you're very eager to get started now, you can also start ivy cuttings quite easily in a glass, jar or bottle in a sunny window. [When starting cuttings in soil, I prefer to keep them in a partly shady to full shade area]. Keep an eye on any ivy indoors, it frequently falls victim to spider mites... which are easy to control with soap and water so long as you are vigilant.

If you're trying to fill up pots quickly, don't be bashful about putting 20 or more cuttings in a single large (e.g. 5 gallon pot).

That being said, I like Brent and many other gardeners have come to view English ivy as an invasive weed. In containers, great, no problem. But once it escapes it can take over a landscape, dwelling or worse yet, unmonitored areas of wilderness.

Then again, what other plant takes full shade, full sun, is drought tolerant, a vigorous climber, is evergreen and adds classic charm to stone and structure?

Good luck!

I don't think you will have too much trouble propagating English Ivy. A search at Google for "English Ivy Propagate" turned up 10,200 hits. Then again a search for "English Ivy Invasive" turned up 24,200 hits.

- Brent

shhh...just don't tell anybody that I planted Euonymus alata (burning bush) in my front border. That one is on the "Highly Invasive Species" list!

BTW, I have a hard time accepting Euonymus alata as being highly invasive. Sure it is way over planted, but it is one of my favorite shrubs. I love the bright green color, the beautiful fall color and the winter structure. I have not seen Euonymus alata growing wild. Does anybody know if 'Compactus' is considered just as invasive?

- Brent

Now, in answer to you question, I dont' think you have to do much with Ivy other than stick it in the ground and it will grow. If you are trying to root it from cutting it probably wouldn't hurt to use Rootone or something like that but I don't believe it is absolutely necessary.

Good luck with your Ivy.

Ann

- Brent

The house where we live previously had ivy on the property. All our neighbors have ivy still, and they like it, so there is quite a lot of it.

When the former owner sold this place, the builder razed the lot and put in a few feet of new dirt (clay, electrical tape, shards of brick, sharp screws...), over which he laid sod without realizing you're supposed to remove the plastic netting. Great builder, iffy landscaper.

The neighbors' ivy and wisteria and raspberry bushes all push through the fences between us, and I would rather have grass in the back to give our kids and dog room to run around. My husband does a little yanking each time he mows the lawn, but that alone does little to check the rapid advance of the ivy and wisteria. So I put on gloves, check that my will is still valid, and yank and RoundUp the tendrils several times each summer.

Now it's three years after we moved in, and last summer my husband was digging to put in the posts of a playset we bought from neighbors. There, three feet down and at least three feet away from the fenceline, were some fat, thriving English ivy roots, working their way over to our yard from a neighbor's yard! I guess their thinking is, if they can't come through the fence, they'll just sneak way, way under it. (The wisteria does that too, but that's a well-known trait of wisteria.)

Every time I think I've learned something about plants, they teach me a new trick.

I live near Dora Kelly Nature Park in Alexandria, and there are entire sections of the woodland blanketed in English ivy. Nothing moves there - no birds at all. It is easy to see that it came from the backyards that abutt the park.

What ivy(ies) have you folks grown in Virginia? My mother has an ugly sound wall of Boston Ivy in Herndon that looks beautiful in summer breezes.

Boston Ivy is not a true ivy, not the Hedera family. It's in the grape family, along with Virginia Creeper.

It really does root quite easly, if you pull it up you will find root 'initials' all along the stem where it came into contact with the ground.

Sticking in a good, well drained media will probably work, no need for hormones.

Mike Cassidy

There's none in my immediate neighborhood that I know of. Yet I find young plants growing in my yard all the time. Virginia creeper is a native plant that's much more interesting and far more enviromentally friendly than English ivy. V creeper also has nice fall color.