"Vox Humana" wrote :


"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
news:1119645921.c0720c1ef68c6a9aea52faca798e706b@t eranews...
"Vox Humana" wrote :


"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
news:1119643329.65502f78962fd89538924e1e9a8e28df@t eranews...
"Carolyn LeCrone" wrote :

English Ivy, though lovely and tenacious is on the
non-native invasive plant list. It is a parasite and
will eventually kill trees if left to its own devices.
It damages the mortar on brick houses and spreads via
seeds that birds drop. I don't have any planted in my
yard, but pull up seedlings often. Carolyn
"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
news:1119638636.e5459ce9e5b159b53f7a228fb5c8dba1@t eranews
...
I understand that ivy is great for preventing erosion
and has very
deep roots. But will it hurt trees if it climbs them?
Or will it hurt buildings, like if it climbs the wall
of a wood shed or house?

Can it be easily started from seeds? That would be the
lowest cost way to go.

So what kind of ivy grows best in the U.S. and isn't that
way? Is there any that's more tame and will just make a
good ground cover without hurting trees or buildings?

I'm in Colorado.

There are many types of ground cover other than vines. Are
you determined to grow ivy or some sort of vine?

Well I heard that ivy puts down really deep roots and is good
for erosion control on slopes, and we have slopes and a long
embankment in our yard and really need that.

I was also reading something about english ivy being
"evergreen in zones 5 up, but that doesn't make sense, I've
never seen it green in the winter here in Denver.

It isn't reliably evergreen for me in zone 6. It depends on
the winter and exposure.

I guess I don't know what you mean by "deep roots." To me,
deep roots would be more than a foot deep. English ivy tends
to have very shallow roots in my garden. It is quite easy to
accidentally tear it from the ground. Really, for erosion
control, you only need to have something growing on the
surface. For instance, turf grass will control erosion but
only has roots that go down a couple inches. I have hostas,
Siberian iris, sedum, ajuga, tradescantia, black-eyed Susan,
and daylilies growing on a slope for erosion control. I did
plant some English Ivy, but it has done poorly.

Ajuga seems like cool stuff. I planted lots of it all over these
slopes and will see how it does now.

--
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