BOSTON ivy? need advice ASAP!

[vash]

my yard got torn out. full on scorched earth at this point.

my landscaper sent us a plant list to green-light. last entry was Boston Ivy. i know it's the stuff crawling up the walls at IVY league schools. it is also the same stuff we grow on soundwalls.

man..am i "releasing the Kraken" at my house? i just tore out bamboo!! am i just going with another invasive plant? this will be far away from the house. my wife want it on the back wooden fence to drown out the boring brown expanse. she wants movement and seasonal colors. my landscaper said he has it at his place..but i dont have a 20 man landscaping crew at my whimsy. i am the crew!! will i be forever tortured by ivy maintenence?

my wife and i got into an actual argument over it this morning. we need to yay/nay the plant list..soon. he needs to order them up.

[bpu699]

Curious myself. Wanted to put it up on our house, but worried about damage to the mortar...

[Baz]

Sorry no experience with it, Cliff.

Seems like if it were planted away from your house, you'll be OK. If the landscaper has it at his place, might be worth a visit to see his before making final decision.

If you're trying to soften a fence, sometimes a few vertical elements will do the trick - like slender shaped trees or large shrubs. Fruit trees even. (?)

[ltusler]

It doesn't spread to fast. Easy to control, until it gets big.

[72doug2,2S]

I wouldn't let it on the house but it makes a great fence softener. I'd do it.

[quicksix]

Hedera traps moisture between it and the surface it is on and will over time break it down.
Never on a house,and eventually it will entangle and destroy the fence.
Seasonal color to me would be Photinia as a background with some native grasses in front to provide movement.
Try looking at Loropetalum, or maybe some Little Ollie dwarf olives, with an underplanting.
Also Podocarpus or yew pine may work
or Bamboo

[ckelly78z]

I'm not sure of the "Ivy" that was growing on the North side of my house, but it developed quickly, and refused to die. I finally had to use a gallon of roundup on the leaves, and then cut the vines after the leaves fell off. It is still lurking there waiting for some non-attention to go wild again......Don't do ivy, it will separate your wall morter, and lift your roof shingles.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by quicksix

....
or Bamboo

^^^^^ This

Glad to help Cliff

[john70t]

If it is anything like 'english ivy' I would not plant it.

-It takes over and chokes out yews and seedum and all other shrubs. Those turn brown and start to die. Remove ivy and they come back to life.

-They spread 20ft long thick hard runners through everything. You have to pull straight or it rips everything else up.

-You only can contain it.

-Once it gets onto walls or siding it burrows into cracks and gutters, but leaves thousands of permanent sticker dots all over everything when it is removed. Impossible to remove those.

[72doug2,2S]

John, John, John, I've given up on yew!

[john70t]

(hey. I like the English but not the ivy. I like Japanese but not the beetles. I like the Japanese Ivy band...wait..er..)

[vash]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^^^ This

Glad to help Cliff

.....too soon.

[vash]

Jackhammered a slab. Found this underneath.

[VincentVega]

It will spread and kill just about any plant its allowed to mingle with. PITA to remove if you change your mind. See bamboo.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by vash

Jackhammered a slab. Found this underneath.

Couple of tools(welder and angle grinder), water to soften up all the dirt, make life a little easier.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by vash

Jackhammered a slab. Found this underneath.

[Crowbob]

Why not just get some kudzu and be done with it!

Ok ok. It was a joke. And a warning.

There's also Japanese Knotweed which is rather benign in a horrible, nightmarish kind of way.

Bamboo and ivies are small potatoes.

[id10t]

Depending on where you are, and how much you care about the future of your fence, there are some options.

For climby, spready, covering stuff consider jasmine - get all sorts of bees, humming birds, etc. Maybe mix in some wisteria - again, amazing smell and lots of bee and such... Note that these are wild climbing clinging things, and once going nice, must be kept in control. I'm out in the country, I don't care about most of my fence, so I'm happy with what I have. It would give any HOA nazi out there a coronary on the spot.

However... part of my back fence has decorative oranges planted. Fruit is super acidic, and small (think mandarin size) but after 5 years they were blocking the fence, and now 20 years later they are blocking 5 more feet above it. Non invasive, color, still have flowers and bees and such, and if you get the right one, you'll be able to eat the fruit. Other citruses like kumquats and old school tangerines can be kept relatively short and bushy too...

Other areas plums or pears or peaches would do the same job...

Or just sacrifice 5ft in from the fence and scatter seeds for various butterfly weeds, flowers, etc. and let it go. Mow it down, scatter again next year.

[Noah930]

I'm taking out about 30-40' of overgrown english ivy along a fenceline right now, and I keep thinking about your bamboo thread.

[72doug2,2S]

How about an butterfly bush border?