How to maintain an Ivy Groundcover

7 years ago

How
to Maintain an Ivy Groundcover

Throughout
the 1980’s I worked in center city, Philadelphia. My company had an office
in the Independence Mall area, which is the historic part of the city,
surrounded by parks maintained by the National Parks System. Throughout the
parks, ivy was used as a groundcover. Although ivy kept maintenance
to a minimum, it always seemed untidy to me. Trash or leaves would blow in
and would stay there until someone would come and removed them, and all
winter the leaves looked dirty and ragged until the new growth started in
the spring to hide the dirt. I was never fond of ivy, until I saw how
beautiful it can look when well maintained.

There
was a particular building which had the most beautiful ivy groundcover, and
I was naturally interested in how they were able to keep it looking so
attractive. One March day I was walking by this building, and noticed a man
with a lawn mower, mowing down the ivy, so I stopped to ask him if they
were removing the groundcover, and he told me that each year he mows it
down close to the ground so he can remove the leaves, rake and fertilize.
He used a leaf catcher on the back of the lawn mower to make cleanup
easier. He sets the mower on high the first time around, then lowers
the blades to get closer. After a couple of weeks new leaves started
to emerge, and in a month the lawn was filled with shinny, healthy leaves
once again.

There
is definitely many situations where an ivy groundcover is needed, and when
well maintained can be the main focal point in the garden. Ivy is a great
alternative to a lawn, and it only has to be mowed once.

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Comments (2)

(ryanga7a) Ryan M
6 years ago
English ivy is incredibly invasive down south. It grows up trees and kills them, either by blocking out the light, making the tree a big wind sail during a thunderstorm and downing the tree, or collecting heavy ice during an ice storm and bringing the tree down that way. Once it starts making its berries, the birds eat them and poop the seeds out, sending perfectly fertilized seeds everywhere in nature. This causes ivy to rear its ugly head taking over pristine areas of what is left of our native forests. It will outcompete almost everything for nutrients. English ivy is one of the worst plants that anybody could plant in North America. Several states have banned its propogation and sale. The best thing to do is to rip it out entirely.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
I live in the PNW - an area where English ivy is extremely problematic. It has invaded all sorts of native areas and it is difficult to locate green belts or even parks where it is not present. And sales of certain species/cultivars are indeed restricted or prohibited. And it has been widely planted here for many, many years, so established plantings of ivy groundcover are common.

The invasive ship has sailed!! Ripping out established plantings is extremely difficult and is usually not 100% effective anyway. And because it was often planted on slopes or steep banks for erosion control, removal poses other problems. But it CAN be maintained and if one DOES have established plantings of it that are serving a purpose, that is often the best method to follow if removal proves difficult or impossible.

The mowing is a good approach, as is using string trimmers. You want to avoid the growth of the ivy from its juvenile stage to the adult stage, where it will flower and set seed. And mowing or cutting back will accomplish this - no flower or seed development significantly reduces the spread of this very aggressive vine. Routine trimming or cutting back will also halt the lateral spread of the vine from ground hugging rooting stems.

One thing to note is that in urban and suburban areas, an established planting of ivy is a very desirable habitat for rodents, primarily rats, and the mowing or cutting back may disturb hidden colonies. I have seen homeowners take a brush hog to an ivy bed with rats scattering like kids being let out of school!!
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English Ivy as a groundcover?
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Check web site of Washington Noxious Web Control Board (or whatever the exact wording is) for additional information. Only certain kinds of ivy have been listed, don't remember at what level of listing (there are several).
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I would also assume that it is legal in PA, but you can always check with your cooperative extension and see what they say. You mentioned that your slope is southfacing, so I assume that it gets sun. That should make it easier than a shady site to get something to grow. I am probably not the best expert, but what about forsythia bushes? The one I have in my backyard is prolific without being uncontrollable and I think would be deeply rooted enough to help stabilize the slope. Also I would think that they would be fairly inexpensive and common at the big box stores so that you could get a bunch in without breaking the bank. My other thought was some low growing evergreen bushes. I have some on my sunny slope and they are doing quite well. For the shaded portion of my slope I am looking at planting some hydrangeas (once I get the ivy out) and maybe some ferns. Litrope would also be a good choice and is sold at the box stores. I would consider digging it up now while it is not completely established and not out of control. Like a misplaced tree, it will just get to be a bigger proble to solve later if it is left to flourish now. Plus I would expect to find it establishing other places in your yard (far from where it is planted) and becoming a problem in many spots. Last, I know that in my english ivy is where the poison ivy starts. I only have poison ivy where the English Ivy is and that is a bigger problem! Here is a link that might be useful: MD Suggestions for Groundcovers
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'Lipstick' ornamental strawberry grows like a groundcover, with attractive light pink flowers. It grows more easily than regular strawberries, and is considered suitable for climate zone 10. They will still need consistent water though. Taiwan Raspberry (Rebus Pentalobus) is another unusual groundcover. It is easier to grow in Southern California than regular raspberries.
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Shearing ivy will NOT kill it......all it will do is help to keep it somewhat under control and from migrating too far away from the fence or whatever is supporting it now. English ivy and wood fences are not compatible. Because the ivy is evergreen and will layer rather densely, it will trap moisture underneath it and that will lead to the deterioration of the fence sooner rather than later. IMO, I wouldn't do either a fence or plantings right in front. You want easy access to the ivy to keep it trimmed back. And in a mild climate, you will need to that often. And I also would not be concerned about the ivy growing with small kids. There is nothing appealing about the plant to encourage little ones to sample (and they should be schooled early on never to sample plants from the garden!!) - the leaves do not taste good and they would have eat a lot to get more than an upset tummy. And if you keep it sheared or cut back, it will never flower or produce berries so that is not a concern either.
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How to maintain an Ivy Groundcover

Comments (2)

(ryanga7a) Ryan M

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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