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Old 15-10-2003, 12:42 PM
Nick Maclaren
 
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Default Does ivy harm old houses?


In article ,
Big Bill writes:
| Some say when ivy starts getting invasive, in our case invading the
| loft by lifting the tiles, it should be chopped at the roots and
| killed. Others say that with a 200 year old property like ours, it
| should be left alone as it's probably got in so many cracks etc. that
| it's contributing in a big way towards keeping the house standing.

Either can be true :-( Depending on the circumstances, ivy can
either be the thing that is protecting the walls (often by keeping
them dry) or damaging them (often by keeping them damp).

| Myself, I'd be inclined to leave the ivy to grow along the walls but
| cut it back periodically so it stops invading the loft space.

That is a classic solution, and has been used on many building for
many decades with great success.

| Any thoughts or experiences on the subject please? This is all new to
| me. I looked on the gardening forums but there's so many of them I
| simply didn't know where to ask.

Check behind some of the ivy. If it is dry and firmly attached,
then all is probably well. If it shows signs of long-term damp,
or the ivy is coming off with chunks of the wall, then you need
to deal with it. But DON'T just kill it, let alone pull it off,
unless you are sure the wall can handle it, as considerable care
is needed for some wall types (e.g. clunch or flint).

In difficult cases, or if you have problems (e.g. damp), then
you may need an expert to look at it. Be careful about so-called
experts who react too fast and to one extreme (e.g. "ivy should
never be allowed to grow on buildings").


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.