It's usually around September until my English Ivy starts looking decent. And then winter's just around the corner. The ivy takes a pretty good hit every winter. Is there anyway to protect it? I think someone mentioned covering it with burlap. Is this the only way to protect it?
Criminy, how cold do your winters get? I thought English ivy was impervious.
-paghat the ratgirl
Pile leaves on it? I'm much more concerned about protecting my roses than English ivy. I would not be concerned until single-digit temps are here.
Where are you? We are in zone 5 and the only thing that we put on our ivy is snow. It thrives.
John
My Ivy thrives, or I should say, survives the winter. But in the spring, there's more brown leaves than green. And after cleaning up the bank, there's a lot of bare spots. Like I said, it's September until it looks good again.
In HOT climates ivy NEEDS shade or will do poorly, but winter per se oughtn't be such a problem. I have dwarf English ivies growing in cracks of a stone wall with very little soil under firs where it is dry & dark & what soil there is is very compacted, & even weeds won't grow there, plus it's exposed to high winter winds that rip up & down the hillside. The ivy does great in this harsh condition. The stuff is fully evergreen year-round, never dies back even a little. I got rid of all the fullsized ivy that was rampant & weedy, & now have only comparatively restrained dwarf ivys & lacey ones & yellow ones, but they're all English ivy cultivars, & hardy little devils shiny & handsome any time. When I planted them I thought the conditions were so lousy only a couple of the tiny starts would "take" (I could only use tiny starts because they had to fit into narrow cracks between rocks). But every single tiny pot took hold & though they grew slow for a long time, they now require periodic trimming back.
Our lowest temperatures aren't terribly low, however, given Puget Sound's London-like microclimate, & perhaps your cold months are minus-something which my plants never experience. Your experience with the ivy makes me curious, though, & it sounds awful that it would take the whole of spring to autumn to bounce back from winter damage. I've just always had the impression that this was eternal stuff that made no demands & simply always looks really good. Is there a chance you have something like Algerian or Persian ivy that don't like to get cold? Or are you actually in a hot zone & have them overly sunned? Inland & in the southwest, direct sun can be too much for ivy even where not hot. Here in the northwest sunlight comes in at such a slant ivy will take even direct sun without suffering, but even here likes shady spots best.
-paghat the ratgirl
Don't force me to tell you how to do the fertility dance again!!!!
I can't say as I've ever had to "protect" English Ivy and I'm in Z6A. It's about as hardy as it gets -- unless you're upwards of Z2 or Z3, I'd be surprised if the cold was the issue. Two things come to mind in keeping English Ivy -- proper fertilization and remembering to give 'im water during the winter if it's a bit dry.
James
I think phagat has hit got it about right,.. here in its native habitat ivy would be covered by a muclh of leaves and orgnic debris about now which will protect roots and stems.. A quick look on the web reveals hardiness to -10 to 20 degrees C.
Some cultivars will be more tender.. Breeding in plants 'tends' to increase some weakness in exchange for other characteristics when compared to species parents.
Like phatgat I now am into the cultivars which seem to be doing well.. Ordered here from our National collection which can be found at:
Good stuff, and very tough once established (and thats the important bit.. ) Note also the cultivation notes at the above address, they recommend planting with lime chips.. (crumbled lime morter or old concrete would probably do as well) // Jim North London, England, UK
I have same problem with ivy on northern banks away from house. I'm trying to get it to grow vigorously enough to revive in the spring, i.e. fill in the banks before winter. Don't have real solution but other question I have is are the damned deer eating it in the winter? The rats with hooves attack everything except the plants on my 10 ft. deck ;) Frank
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