If you've ever sat on a bench in a Rittenhouse Square Park at night, you know what I mean. All that gorgeous greenery that we enjoy during the day becomes home to less desirable, four legged friends at night. Do ivy covered houses cover up numerous creepy crawlies, as well? Obviously, their verticality limits the number of furry vermin able to make the trek, but what about their insect brethren? And do the ground-bound scavengers simply collect at the base of the house instead?
Then there are the damaging properties inherent in the ivy itself. Growing green walls often result in structural damage to a building. They trap moisture and can expedite related problems, causing wood to rot and mortar to soften. So where do you draw the line between dreamy and detrimental?
I'm curious, have you ever lived in an ivy-covered house? What was your experience? Are they better to look at than to live in? Or, are they all we hope they'd be - charming, romantic...magical??
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Both. Really bad for tuckpointing or siding. But charming nonetheless.
Not charming. English Ivy can spread very aggressively if not mowed and controlled. Once ivy begins the climbing phase of it's lifecycle it produces berries which are easily spread by birds to nearby trees.Ivy causes serious problems for trees making them more vulnerable to wind, rot and insect damage. Here in Northern Virginia, we have serious problem retaining tree canopy because of the spread of English Ivy.
I'm sure there are some species of ivy that are not harmful, but I do not recommend English ivy. I planted 6 plugs at the side of my house one summer - 4 years later it had reopened a calked crack in my foundation and the water came in. It barged through the calking on my glass-block window, and emerged through another window and was growing inside!
My neighbor had a different ivy growing up their house and it started to grow on mine. It has little "feet" that stick to anything, and they are hard to remove.
From what Tallcat said, it sounds as if it would be bad to grow it anyplace.
That being said, it ivy does look charming on houses from the outside.
For invasive species (even the pretty ones) check out this link: http://www.nalusda.gov/
I meant caulked and caulking. heh.
Undoubtedly malicious, but it just looks so darned charming. Magical even.
It looks fabulous, imo, but I have busted my own knuckles keeping it off my house. A stiff putty scraper is the best method I found for getting those little suction cup feet off.
I've grown ivy on my house before, and spoken with some contractors and landscapers about it. In general, ivy is pretty bad for a structure, but it depends on the species. Certain kinds of ivy aren't TOO terribly destructive...
In addition to its destructive and invasive properties, here in SoCal another issue with ivy is RATS. Snails love to use the underside of the leaves for cover, and rats looove snails. If you've got a lot of ivy in your yard, you've got rats. Guaranteed.
There's a brick house down the street from me that lets ivy grow on their home for about two years and then they scrape it off and the whole cycle starts again. I think that it's a great idea to scrape it off regularly if you're letting it grow, but it would be two much work for me. I think that it looks magical.
I love the look of ivy, but indeed - it harbors both rats AND ants. Ants LOVE ivy: it makes a great highway and protects them from rain. And I'm sure the mini-ecosystem it encourages also provides them with fab foodstuffs.
I think it might be best in Britain, where they seem to have fewer pests and insects.
Ditto on the rat thing. I lived in a gorgeous old apartment building years ago with one side covered in ivy. My icky neighbor would leave his trash bags on his (3rd floor) deck. One morning as I ate my breakfast gazing out my window - there was the RAT (not my neighbor) rifling through the garbage. My landlady evicted him and tore down the ivy.
I have Virginia Creeper, which is very pretty, especially in the fall-one of the few leaves that turns fall colors, unlike our boring old aspens. It's on a brick house. My biggest worry is termites, because it can provide a "bridge" to where there are wood elements (like the roof).
We have ivy..mostly Virginia Creeper. It is pretty but a pain. I hate it and would love to get rid of it. That is easyer said than done.
I used to work in a building that had ivy growing up one wall. It looked beautiful and I loved it ... until one day during a wind storm and the *whole wall of ivy* came crashing down onto the sidewalk below. Thankfully no one was walking there when it happened but it could have seriously hurt someone.
Plus, ivy is so destructive to property and trees. I no longer like ivy and try to remove it.
My old apartment was covered in ivy and that was part of its charm and why I moved in. The people that owned it decided that they were going to fix it all up and replace all the windows, so down came the ivy. Lots of the grout between the bricks was pulled out with it and there was a lot to repair in the end.
I was glad to have new windows and regrouted walls, but I missed the ivy.
Not a fan of creeping anything. Ivy is definitely a place friendly to rats, bugs of all sorts, snakes, snails, etc. Those pictures made me shudder!
FYI, Picture #10 should be credited towards the artist, Natalie Dee. She did the image in July of 2008. :)
NatalieDee.com
All I can see when I look at those photos is a bunch of rats' nests. Rats love ivy. Do not let it grow on your house.
Well some of these images do creep me out. A little ivy is charming, but a little goes a long way. My little bit got started because I had a plant on the porch that I took inside in the fall. Then I found it had aphids, so I just tossed it out the window. It took root where it fell, and now it charms me (but I know when to clip it).
Good article/comments. I always had a romanticized view of ivy, growing up in Philadelphia. But after hearing about the snails, rats, snakes and structural damage I'll steer clear when purchasing future property!
My parents used to live in a house with Virginia Creeper on the corner. It was beautiful and never caused problems, structural or otherwise. It was in Denver, so in the winter, when it would dry out, we'd just go out run our fingers across the wall a few times and it was trimmed back for next season. Have to agree that it is one of the most beautiful fall plants. Didn't have any pest problems here, but we don't have rats or many snails. Lots of ants here, but never on our vines.
Deciduous ivys(sp?) are not nearly so bad, but the evergreen English Ivy (Hedera helix) is a invasive & pernicious pest species - foul, evil, horrid and malignant. I grew up in a house covered two feet deep in English Ivy. Some of the windows were covered over and sealed shut by it - until tendrils started forcing them open again as they tried to come inside the house itself.
The ivy housed spiders aplenty, and all the insects those spiders could eat. Snails were all over outside, and earwigs everywhere inside & out. Fortunately, our area wasn't much of one for rats; but every scurrying-type creature we did have locally made our ivy home (I actually kind of liked the frogs...).
I hate (and loathe, detest, & abhor) English Ivy. Not only do I refuse to live any place with ivy growing on it, but I will not even buy anything decorated with an ivy pattern. My feelings about ivy may be best expressed by those three little words that mean so much: "Kill, KILL, KILL!!!"
My grandparents have gotten warnings from local fire officials in the past for allowing plants to grow too close to, and onto, their home.
My Aunt has Ivy growing in her backyard on her fence, that along with small trees and bushes it makes you feel like you are in magical place. Its not anywhere on the house though.
Ivy sounds like one of those fantasies best left fantasy.
The people who lived in my house before me let ivy completely take over the giant oak tree next to the driveway. It used to drive me crazy until this spring, when a huge storm came through and took out 5 big trees all around my house. Including the one next to my driveway. It split in half and the only thing that saved my car from being flattened was that stupid ivy. Love/ hate relationship now for sure.
I agree that ivy is more of a nuisance than its worth, even though in small doses on a house it can look wonderful. I loved KaylaCo's trimming idea! If kept in control like that it hink it would be really nice. Some of the photos look creepy to me, though - it's like a giant bush with windows.
In response to Tallcat, I'm from northern VA too, but I wouldn't say that ivy is a big problem for the tree canopy. My parents' neighbors have an entire yard full of ivy instead of grass, and have never had to remove a tree, whereas my parents' yard lost 3 giant trees over the past 20 years and they have mulch and grass. It was just those trees' times to go, I guess... Anyway, if any vine is responsible for losing tree canopy, it's Kudzu, not ivy. And also new building - there are so many homes going up and coming down around here that it's killing off the canopy. Ashburn has almost NO large trees because of that, whereas North Arlington, where I'm from, feels like a bunch of homes planted in an ancient forest, because the homes are so established.
English Ivy is not good for a house, as others have mentioned. I'll admit, I have some growing on a non-structural brick wall in my backyard dividing the properties. It looks nice, and is evergreen, so it provides color all winter.
Virginia Creeper is deciduous, but less destructive. It will, however, leave little footprints on the house when it gets removed, but it is less likely to bore through mortar joints.
@Sweetvirginia: While it's true that ivy can be kept in control in individual yards, it has become a problem for the area trees as a whole. I spent a year as an Americorps volunteer with the Arlington County Invasive Plant office. The problem that I think people have trouble seeing is that it may not be the Ivy growing in your yard that is a problem, but the seeds from that Ivy which spread to parks, natural areas, median strips, and other people's property that become a problem. Kudzu is also a problem and a growing one, but in terms of something we can all do to help preserve our area's trees- not planting English ivy is one of the most important. ::gets off soap box::
It's hard to tell, but photos #2, 3, 4, 6 and 9 above are Virginia Creeper. The only photo above I can say is definitively ivy is #5.
Kudzu was like a slow-mo sf movie cover-everything blob the years I spent in Tallahassee. I don't miss kudzu at all!
I love the look! These photos remind me of the Fairmont Empress hotel in Victoria, built in 1910....spectacular!
As some other people have already mentioned- Virginia Creeper is slightly less of a problem and gives the same affect- Especially in the fall when the leaves turn a brilliant red.
Not sure about pests- but I've never had a problem.
Invasive species or Alien spawning fungus? Reminds of Stephen King's original tales from the crypt. "meteor sh*t" lol
Although lovely to look at, it's a pain in the behind. My house had one side covered with evergreen English ivy; unfortunately, it was the side where I almost never went and so the ivy grew undisturbed. I think it was only a few feet high when I bought the house but I didn't do anything about it until things got bad. It climbed up the wall and got under the siding at the top. I kept trimming it down but that was an uphill battle. Finally I have had and I sprayed it with some nasty Killex or Weedex or whatever those herbicides are called. It took SEVERAL generous applications for the ivy to to die and the roots (pretty think, over 1.5" in diameter) were hell to dig out.
It's pretty... on someone else's house.
LOL this discussion reminds me of the struggle I have every spring/summer to keep the antigone (gorgeous hot pink blooms on a crazy aggressive vine) on my house. . . I love a vine-covered cottage: I even painted my house bright yellow with white trim and a black door, so it would look good with the antiqone. . . but everyone else breathes a sigh of relief when cool weather comes, the vine dies, and I pull it all down again.
If the ants love ivy, then you don't have to worry about termites--ants will swarm and kill them. Be nice to ants, if you've got a timber house.
I applied some faux ivy to the road side side of our garage. It looks pretty and you wouldn't know it's fake unless you got real close. With the (real) climbing roses it looks so ethereal.
I wanted real but my husband said it would mess up the house.
Well, now. I always thought moderation in all things: a wall of ivy would be fine. But after reading this article, my skin is starting to crawl. I've always been a city dweller so never had to deal, but I did live in Georgia, where Kudzo rules! Ivy sounds insidious, like the roots from the giant Oak tree that was in front of my city home on the east coast. Glad I got out of there before the sidewalk totally erupted or the tree fell on the house!!!!!!
I thought it was magical until my neighbor attempted to kill their ivy and it popped up UNDER the roadway in everyone else's yards. Now, well, I'll just stick with my better-behaved wisteria vines.
yuck! Never liked this look. Doesn't feel clean. All I can think of are bugs climbing into my house.
My grandparents have had ivy (not sure what type) that has always grown on the wall near their front door. They've lived in that house ever since they were married and luckily no structural damage or rats. I'm sure there are some bugs that live in there and birds have tried to nest but no luck.
70% of allergy sufferers coudn't live there. Be careful with magic!
My mother has a fascination with bridges of all kinds, and her wall calendar has a fall image of the Llanwrwst bridge (#1) that takes my breath away: http://www.freewebphoto.com/photos/1869/6/llanrwst-bridge-and-court-house-covered-in-red-ivy-north-wales-uk.html
But yeah, it's bad for brick....
the first building in our complex has the choicest apartment in the whole place. the lady that lives there has been in the complex for years so she basically does whatever she wants. recently she's been trying to grow ivy around a pipe that leads into her bathroom, and she's constantly leaving food outside for possums, racoons and squirrels.
this weekend i found out she has 3 dogs, 8 cats and a huge aquarium in a small 1 bedroom apartment.
gross!
Well, there must be a "right way" to go about having an ivy covered building, since it doesn't seem to have destroyed various centuries old structures in Europe (and some in the east coast of the US). I think almost all of the pictures above are rather magical and swoon-worthy, so I'm glad some homeowners have found a way to make it work.
Ha! I'm fairly certain that Boston Ivy isn't as structurally problematic.
My entire acre lot is a blanket of English Ivy and other 'invasive' groundcover, but we do keep it off of the house and trees. It's just not that hard to do. About 2-3x/year we have to go out and give the edges a 'haircut' and pull it off the tree trunks, but otherwise it is relatively easy to keep in check. At least it grows ABOVE ground and doesn't spread via runners. Pachysandra is a bitch to pull out for that reason.
And FWIW, if you live somewhere conducive to mounds of ivy, I gotta tell ya... rodents are probably a problem whether or not said ivy is growing on your house. No plants climb my structure, but you bet your butt we have mice and rats around here and have to be vigilant about deterring them and/or catching and eliminating them. You can't live in a woodland and avoid this.
Once upon a time, I lived in this charming stone house with ivy all up the sides. Fortunately I was only renting....the place was not so charming once I realized it was mice and brown recluse spider infested. Broke my lease and got the heck out of dodge.
I love the look of an ivy-covered house, but would never do it again. You might think being awakened by birdsong is charming and romantic, but keep in mind that birds wake up with the dawn, and sometimes just before...
Nuisance, but not so much that it's awful to live in a house surrounded by/partially covered with ivy.
We have lived in our home for almost 4 years and have little by little been able to hack back all the ivy that was allowed to run rampant for years. We've had to replace 2 fences that were bowed by the years of weight of all the foliage. Stripped it off the side of the house and had the chimney tuckpointed.
And the bugs now (flying and creepy-crawly varieties) are only a fraction of what they used to be. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.
The apartment building I live in used to be a church and one wall is covered with ivy. The other day I was vacuuming and noticed that ivy was growing up through my heating duct and into my bedroom. Talk about invasive!!!
It can be sort of charming, but after hearing about rats, I'm totally freaked out.
Tallcat - noted! I'll promise never to plant it :)
It's beautiful, but I cannot afford the staff to maintain it's beauty. I am barebones as it is with just the cook, butler, and chauffeur. Plus I have an aversion to palmetto bugs (large red flying roaches). If I lived in a large industrial poured concrete structure I would opt for Virginia Creeper.
It's very charming. I love to look at it. the townhouse covered with ivy in the picture looks exactly like my neighbors townhouse. . I don't know if I want it on my building now that I've heard that it can cause building damage.
I just did a post (adetailedhouse.com) on letting wisteria climb up my balcony....and Virginia creeper on my stone house! I let it start as the mourning doves love to hid their nests behind it, but then I chop the base and they die and come off the house naturally. No rats though. My mom did tell me it was damaging, which is how I found this post! I do love the look!!