@Fairygirl, yes forgive the morning thumb typing. Ivy appears very at home on wood, and I wondered if it needed something not so gappy/airy as wire mesh to adhere its rootlets/hangers. I've always thought it could be an excellent tarpaulin!
I had some ramble over an old chicken house, but the weight collapsed it over time. I was wondering how structural you could get it. Whether it could end up being self supporting.
The stuff I was working on yesterday, has wrapped a damson completely (probably 30years in the making), you can't tell if there is even a tree there any more. It's quite laborious trying to remove it. Probably easier for me to fell the tree and ivy and start again. But you never know.
I did manage to peel enough off of one hawthorn and the tree bounced back quite nicely, despite being quite an odd shape due to the ivy spread. It's hard to know how interconnected these plants are. I read recently that close trees work together, and removing one can cause heartbreak for another.
When ivy outgrows it's support, it starts to flower and fruit, the leaves take on a more rounded shape, and the stems get woodier. I've read that if you take cuttings from this top growth, you can root them and the resulting plants will be more shrub like and need little support. I haven't seen one but I believe there are professionally tended gardens where they've successfully grown dense hedges like this, which look like an ivy covered wall but are nothing but ivy.
I use ivy in the garden,just have to make sure it stays within bounds.
Here I have grown it up a plastic trellis and onto the garage wall and keep it at a height of about 6ft.The wall is in shade with no planting pockets at the base and it would be just bare brick if no ivy.
This little variegated ivy I bought for £1 in Morrisons and I am training it over the back of the pond in the hopes that it will be a 'ladder' for frogs etc.It also looks nice growing round the pots and trails into the pond itself.Just prune out anything not wanted.
This ivy is 'Duckfoot'.Using it as ground cover where nothing else would grow as it is a shady,dank area,looks good in the summer when the ferns come through it.
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
josusa47 I hope that's true about the propagation tips for a sturdier specimen. That's really intrigued me. Must hunt for some photographic ivy hedging!
Must admit I don't like the ivy that grows wild as it is difficult to get rid of but the ivy you can buy is totally different. Much nicer colours and you are in charge. Makes nice cover in different areas. @madpenguin. Your ivy looks good and as you say you can just prune anything unwanted.
josusa47 I hope that's true about the propagation tips for a sturdier specimen. That's really intrigued me. Must hunt for some photographic ivy hedging!
Google ‘arboreal ivy’
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I really hate Ivy when it starts to creep into my garden,..however i live with Ivy at the end of my garden also in front of my house,..the Ivy at the end of my garden is easy to control as there is a wall between where it grows on a 5 meter wall,..at present wild Pigeons are feeding on the Ivy Berries.
My favourite Ivy happens to grow right across from my front door,..that is Virginia Creeper,..its nearly all of the greenery one can see in the images below.
One can see how bright red its gets during Summer in the image below,..sadly i can not find a better image to compare.
An interesting image of how Ivy can take over,..most of the smaller branches are Ivy,..this is a long abandoned house on one of the Lake Islands.
Posts
Here I have grown it up a plastic trellis and onto the garage wall and keep it at a height of about 6ft.The wall is in shade with no planting pockets at the base and it would be just bare brick if no ivy.
This little variegated ivy I bought for £1 in Morrisons and I am training it over the back of the pond in the hopes that it will be a 'ladder' for frogs etc.It also looks nice growing round the pots and trails into the pond itself.Just prune out anything not wanted.
This ivy is 'Duckfoot'.Using it as ground cover where nothing else would grow as it is a shady,dank area,looks good in the summer when the ferns come through it.
@madpenguin. Your ivy looks good and as you say you can just prune anything unwanted.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My favourite Ivy happens to grow right across from my front door,..that is Virginia Creeper,..its nearly all of the greenery one can see in the images below.
One can see how bright red its gets during Summer in the image below,..sadly i can not find a better image to compare.
An interesting image of how Ivy can take over,..most of the smaller branches are Ivy,..this is a long abandoned house on one of the Lake Islands.
Philip