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Jim S · 17-02-2011, 10:14 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:13:43 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Jake" wrote in message ...

Thinking laterally - a neighbour had a clematis montana growing on the
front of his house (picture 2-storey house with protruding
porch/single storey garage attached on the side). He kept it pruned
beautifully. But what he didn't realise was what was happening in the
background. It had sent roots through soffit vents. The first he knew
was when the light in his downstairs loo (in the porch bit) wouldn't
work. Upshot was the soffits and fascias were removed, along with a
lot of his porch roof tiles, to hack out the maze of growth between
the ceilings and the roof. We're talking pitch black and something out
of Day of the Triffids! Those roots grew in the dark and filled a few
cubic metres of roof space, probably in about 3-4 years. Would ivy do
the same?

clematis roots in the roof space? Surely you mean shoots/stems?
We had a similar event when my husband opened a first floor fitted
wardrobe and found a clematis tendril reaching for him; it had grown
through the loft space, then through the back of the wardrobe.

Doubt it - ivy does not do aerial roots -

Back to front. Ivy has aerial roots (that's how it sticks to
bricks/houses); clematis doesn't.

About 50 years ago we lived in a 400-year old house whose front was
completely covered in ivy, top to bottom; it was clipped
every year so that windows weren't obscured and to keep it out of
gutters etc. Some years back I went past and it had all been stripped
off; but the house is still standing and the brick in good condition.

Janet

I removed 22 bags of ivy from a free standing yard wall and the damage to
the Victorian bricks was considerable, It may be that the softer lime
mortar fed the roots or was more easily damaged. There were no roots in the
ground, only in the wall itself.
Now that same wall is cracking due to my neighbour's ivy so there will be
words.

--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
www.jimscott.co.uk