Best ivy cultivar -- how to start it climbing and keep it tidy

4 years ago

I just replaced my ivy-covered fence so now I'm starting with a blank slate after years of struggling with the scraggly, ancient ivy on my old fence.

The picture below is from an Inn where I stayed in Ohio that had FABULOUS looking ivy. I would love for my ivy to look like theirs!

I'd appreciate any advice on ...

Which cultivars to consider. My fence is 6 feet tall. I prefer shiny green leaves, but disease-resistance would be a plus.
How to get the ivy started up the fence, rather than pooling along the ground.
How to maintain it to get this lovely look.

This is the look I'd LOVE to get.

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Comments (5)

Embothrium
4 years ago
Was the ivy you removed flowering?
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Yardvaark
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Keep in mind that if you're growing English ivy on a wood fence, it's life is going to be shortened.

If you live where ivy grows well, I can't imagine that there is any cultivar that wouldn't also do well, as would the straight species. And they would all look nice -- reasonably along the lines of what you're showing in the picture -- though different cultivars would produce different textures. Some cultivars may revert to the species, so in the end that's what you might end up with anyway.

I've never seen ivy that had any trouble growing up any fixed surface, so there's not a worry about that. If you had ivy there before and didn't kill it with herbicide, it will grow back with no problem. No need to buy more.

To get the weeping look, as in the picture, shear the ivy tightly, in the early spring (same as one would do with a hedge), just once per year.

I've also not known ivy to have disease problems, except as a house plant, where it will almost certainly get spider mites. Outdoors, in ivy country, it doesn't happen.
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Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for the advice, @Yardvaark. By shearing tightly, do you mean I should prune off anything that that isn't flush with the fence surface?

On one fence I've planted ivy at the base, but for some reason it refuses to climb -- perhaps there's not enough sun to entice it upward.

On the fence I just replaced, when we bought our house the ivy already very woody with thick tree-like stems and had formed a heavy overhang on top of the fence. It was a mess.
PRO
Yardvaark
3 years ago
If left to its own devices, it can become unkempt and messy like many other plants.

Yes, I means to shear it back to very near the fence itself ... say like if the plant was 3" thick all along the face of the fence. Or even less. The goal being to remove as much loose growth as possible, but not what is attached to the fence. It will regenerate all new growth that will cascase.

The new ivy that refuses to climb just takes time. It will do it.
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Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you, @Yardvaark!

Best ivy cultivar -- how to start it climbing and keep it tidy

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Best ivy cultivar -- how to start it climbing and keep it tidy

Comments (5)

Embothrium

Yardvaark

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Yardvaark

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