How Fast does English Ivy Grow

Bill Rodwell

8 years ago

Planning on filling my yard with English Ivy---how fast does it grow?

Thanks Bill Rodwell

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Comments (3)

User
8 years ago
Guessing it depends on where you are located on earth.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
Reiterating the above - where you are will depend on its speed of growth. Where I live, I swear you can see ivy tendrils elongate by the day. I certainly need to prune back the wall of ivy my neighbors planted on their bank every few weeks in summer.

And where you are located will have a bearing on the feasibility of even considering English ivy for inclusion in your garden. In wide swatches of the country, it is considered an invasive species and should be avoided. It also forms a very appealing habitat for rats and other vermin so think twice about this plant choice.
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After cardboard is laid, much of the roots will die. When one of the roots does not die and manages to punch through, your choices are restricted. You can not dig it up without ruining the seal, and if you pull it, there will be more coming from that spot. It is the downside of the very organic method of cardboard+mulch. Yes, touching up with a paint brush is not organic. I also still have more than half of the smallest bottle of Round up you can buy. I bought it in 1998, and I never sprayed it, only applied with a paint brush. With ivy and poison ivy it is a must-have backup. In the case of poison ivy (my #1 enemy) you can not even dig the thing out without risking an ER visit, and the local largest PI vines are (or rather, were) thicker than my forearm and 100 ft long, and a root system to match. After you cut one such thing, no matter how much cardboard and mulch you put down, there will be dozens of shoots punching through within a 20 ft radius for a couple of years.
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Lizzy, first off welcome to Iowa!! ;) I hope you'll like it here. Regarding English Ivy, seems to be hardy to Zone 5a, it also seems to be poisnous. A lot of places consider it an invasive weed and difficult to eradicate. Maybe you could go visit a good nursery in the area and get some suggestions for something more suitable for you zone. Good luck. Diann IA z5a
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Thanks for the info. I checked on them this afternoon and they were getting a little too much sun. Moved them to the porch for complete shade for a few days. Hopefully that will help with the wilting. How close did you plant yours on your hill? I am removing my fescue front lawn, putting in large flower beds and the english ivy under a large red oak. Will have a small area of a new type of buffalo grass. The area for the ivy is large. I figure it will take about 150 ivy starts to put a plant every 20 inches. I need success real bad. LOL I have lived with english ivy in my back yard for over ten years. Was here when we moved in. Takes some work to keep it where I don't want it but isn't that bad. And I know I don't want it going up the tree.
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My english ivy does NOT climb!
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Try this. In my profession I have had many people say the same thing, but only due to the technique used to get the vines to climb. If you started with a containerized vine that was a "staked" plant (or not), take it off the stake and: dig a trench at the very base of the wall or around the fence post deep enough to ONLY bury the stem of the plant and allow the leaves to remain above ground. Wrap it around the post or line the base of the wall this way. Cover the stem with a shallow layer of soil leaving the foliage sticking up. The next time that growth occurs, the shoots will come from the bases (nodes) of the leaves along the stems that you have buried. We may be talking about a season or two here, but it will work. This applies to English ivy, Virginia creeper, Boston ivy and others. They won't tend to attach (WELL) when left on the stakes. If they are allowed to grow UP by themselves from their nodes they will cover rapidly and climb rampantly. Just MY experience... hortster
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Mike McEuen
8 years ago
If you have neighbors please reconsider this plant choice. My neighbors english ivy is destroying our shared fence and invading my yard. I have worked for countless hours to eradicate it from my side. I have gotten it off a good part of the fence and just let it all droop back into his yard. Hopefully he will get the hint that it is not welcome. English ivy is a great home for rats as someone mentioned, as well as wasp nests and things like that. Almost impossible to get rid of once established.

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How Fast does English Ivy Grow

Comments (3)

User

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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