English Ivy
Posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
by Dennis Sons
tn nursery
English Ivy is also known as the Common Ivy and is a species of ivy origination from Europe, which then spread to northeast Ireland, southern Scandinavia, Spain, Ukraine, southwestern Asia and northern Turkey. Most of these species are found in the northern and eastern limits of the world, while other forms of ivy occupy the west and southwest regions.
The English Ivy is an evergreen climbing plant. It grows to heights of twenty to thirty meters if it has a suitable surface, such as a tree, wall or cliff. If there are no vertical surfaces such as these they grow as ground cover. It manages this climbing by using aerial rootlets that cling to any surface.
The leaves of this plant are alternate and are of two types. Some of the leaves are five-lobed juvenile leaves that can be found on climbing and creeping stems. The others are un-lobed adult leaves found on the stems of fertile flowering plants that are growing in full sunlight. You can usually found ivy growing in trees' crowns or atop rock faces.
Flowers and Fruits
The flowers of this plant are produced during late summer and last til around late autumn. They are small umbels that are greenish yellow in colour. They are abundant in nectar, which serves as an important source of food for bees and many other insects. The berries produced as fruits can range in colour from orange-yellow to purple-black and ripen in late winter. They feed many birds, and are somewhat toxic for human consumption. Each berry has one to five seeds in it, which are dispersed through birds and animals eating the berries.
Uses
English Ivy is commonly grown in the form of an ornamental plant. When in its native range, the species is valuable when it comes to attracting wildlife. The flowers of this plant are visited by more than seventy different species of insects that feed on nectar, and the berries are just as popular, being eaten by at least sixteen species of birds. The foliage of the plant is very dense and provides evergreen shelter for many animals, and deer also browse in it.
The English Ivy can grow in the shade, forming ground cover, which is an issue for areas under trees, because grasses cannot grow well due to the ivy. Their growth is dense and very vigorous and therefore these plants are perfect as ground cover if you want to get rid of weeds. They are effective in controlling erosion on slopes. Since they can climb vertical surfaces, many people use this to their advantage, growing this species of ivy to cover their walls, or growing them in hanging baskets so that they cascade out over the sides beautifully.
Care Tips
These plants are easy to take care of. You need to grow them in well drained soil and they can handle part shade as well as full shade. You should trim them during the spring to keep them manageable and also to prevent bacterial leaf spot. Spraying them with insecticidal soap and some horticultural oil will help you keep mites off them.
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