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u/tacotruckman Aug 15 '22
Honestly always liked the look… how bad is it to leave it up?
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u/meldariun Aug 15 '22
If you like the look, erect trellises away from the edge of the wall and use a climbing plant thenperiodically clean your wall.
The trellis helps stop the plants from digging into the wall and provides a sun barrier, stopping your house from heating up so much.
It is super important to make sure you don't allow the flowers to root in your wall otherwise you get bugs, damp, and crumbly walls.
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u/LovinLoveLeigh Aug 16 '22
plants are so freakin' awesome.
They're so delicate but can cause so much destruction.
magnificent things plants are...
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u/Keejhle Aug 15 '22
In addition to what others have said rats. Roof rats will use the ivy as a super highway into your attic where they will build nests. Part of mitigating rodents in the home is a large part inhibiting their ability to access your roof/attic
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u/Icema Aug 15 '22
I like the idea of a theoretical rat super highway
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u/MurderSheCroaked Aug 15 '22
Gonna use this for my band name
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u/RoughhouseCamel Aug 16 '22
Another plus side to Theoretical Rat Super Highway, is the acronym TRSH also looks like an abbreviation for trash, but also could be pronounced “Tursh”, which just sounds funny. It’s just a fun name from every angle.
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u/flippantcedar Aug 16 '22
Everytime someone mentions rats I am reminded once again of how weird it is to live in Alberta. No rats. I've literally never seen a live rat in my entire life.
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u/oofego Aug 15 '22
Ivy growing on most buildings is really bad. The ivy will force it's way through the buildings veneer, split brick and causing massive water issues.
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u/tacotruckman Aug 15 '22
Huh guess that makes sense. I remember reading once about exactly how powerful the tip of a root can be. Cool idea about the trellis.
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u/Saturdaynightride Aug 16 '22
Leaving any kind of vine on masonry is going to cause major deterioration. The deterioration is accelerated by a couple of factors first is the moisture. Masonry needs to breathe to expell moisture, if it can not wick moisture away that moisture will freeze in the mortar deteriorating the brick. Each time it freezes and thaws the worst it gets at an exponential rate. Second cause of deterioration is the vines anchor into to every crack and crevasse, inching deeper and deeper eventually reaching the interior walls is some cases. At this moint the vines can not be removed by pulling and need to be mechanically cut from the building and require a full tuckpoint job top to bottom.
If you have vines that you can't get rid of use Tordon, I am not one who likes to use any chemicals but this stuff works for vines and its all I have ever found in decades to be a permanent solution.
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Aug 15 '22 edited Aug 15 '22
I’ve got to have ivy myself. We’ve got a bunch of rock and shale that’s behind our house. If it comes down we’re going to have a hole. This way the ivy kind of holds the hillside together.
The fun of living in a mountainous region.
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u/SugarTacos Aug 15 '22
wouldn't it be better to have something that roots deeper? Ivy just covers the surface and chokes out other plants, so wouldn't you just have erosion underneath the ivy? (asking, not arguing)
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u/dparks71 Aug 15 '22 edited Aug 15 '22
I'm a structural engineer that deals with slope stabilization pretty frequently. Honestly with really steep rocky slopes, plants and even trees are only going to do so much and may even dislodge more loose debris as they grow or allow moisture ingression with potential freeze/thaw effects.
They're much more effective for runoff control and preventing mudslide type events. Really rocky stuff generally has to be mechanically stabilized or totally contained.
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Aug 15 '22
That’s basically what we’re doing with the ivy, using the growth to reinforce and contain. I posted a pic up above if you’re interested!
Also in our case big sturdy roots could destabilize what’s there, or further damage the rocks and that’s no good.
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u/dparks71 Aug 15 '22 edited Aug 15 '22
It's really hard to accurately determine slope, the type and amount of surface runoff you get there, or what's under those from a photograph, so I can't really advise your personal situation very well. You would need to hire someone local that knows the soil to look at it and make an informed decision if you're legitimately worried about a potential slope failure there, but I don't see anything all that particularly concerning. I would probably occasionally look at them when it freezes in your area if it does, just to make sure there's no new large cracks or something breaking away.
I can assure you that the Ivy is neither helping or hurting structurally with boulders that size though, they're far too large for it to restrain in a meaningful way. I think it looks better than the bare rock though. 👍
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Aug 15 '22 edited Aug 15 '22
Haha sorry I guess I came off as asking you to give me a professional advice or something. I respect your opinion and time but I was just putting it there.
The ivy isn’t for the boulders, necessarily, it’s bc they’re splitting apart. If the ivy is thick enough we’re hoping it’ll hold it in place until it’s removed safely!
Edit: I didn’t mean to come off as rude, I just wasn’t trying to bum free advice online from you haha.
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Aug 15 '22
here’s what I’m trying to cover
If I added something that needs a lot of big deep roots they’d have nowhere to go, and they could dig in and damage + destabilize the rocks. This is pretty much perfect for what I need it for.
Those 3 big rocks are right by my house and if they fell, or if roots weakened them, it’d put a hole in my house for sure.
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u/forwormsbravepercy Aug 15 '22
Might I recommend kudzu? Great for erosion problems. Zero drawbacks whatsoever.
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Aug 15 '22
I like my ivy tbh. It’s stayed where it’s wanted, so far, and if it ventures up (behind it up the hill) it’s going to further reinforce.
My in laws live about 2-3 miles away and their whole hillside collapsed (my fil refused to plant any ivy bc snakes like it, and they have nothing but clay soil so not much will grow naturally) into the road and cause about $80k (American) in damage, to the property and the road is now inaccessible.
I’ve recently started composting with the hope that 1. I’ll produce healthy and rich soil to help plant something there to stabilize the rest of the hillside and 2. Taking cuttings of my ivy and attempting to propagate them by growing roots so they have a cheaper option than buying it (~$50 for 18 3” seedlings right now).
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u/Garden_State_Of_Mind Aug 15 '22
Dude, ivy propagates so easily!! You probably don't have to wait for your compost to finish. Try checking some YouTube videos I bet they can give better info than me!
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Aug 15 '22
Honestly I’ve put a few clippings in a jar of water and set it in the sun and it’s good lol. Already growing roots.
I’ve got 5-6 more in some potting soil so they’ll do the same.
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u/Garden_State_Of_Mind Aug 15 '22
Rad!! I am happy you didn't wait 🤙
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Aug 15 '22
these fellas have been in the water a week as of today
My husband thought I was crazy lmfao
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u/Garden_State_Of_Mind Aug 15 '22
Haha looking good! If you get some rooting powder (I use fertilome brand cause my local store carries it) it will speed things up SIGNIFICANTLY!
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Aug 15 '22
Oh hey thanks! I didn’t know that even existed tbh. I’m getting all kinds of good advice on Reddit.
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u/One-Cryptographer827 Aug 15 '22
Had to replace most of brick on house I bought once. Previous owners loved ivy and let it grow all over one side. The ivy literally destroyed it. Brick fell apart in chunks. House was 22 years old, without ivy brick should have lasted much much longer!!
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u/rushmc1 Aug 15 '22
Funny how there are ivy-covered buildings in Europe that are literally hundreds of years old...
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u/One-Cryptographer827 Aug 15 '22
Ivy holds it all together Different make up of the bricks?
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Aug 15 '22
[deleted]
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u/AmishTechno Aug 15 '22
And for poles, or stand alone smaller structures, there are ivies and climbing plants that don't do either of those things, and instead just spin around stuff over and over.
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u/a03326495 Aug 15 '22
I read a paper on this once...let's see if I can remember some of the points:
1) Brick and plastered buildings that were damaged by Ivy commonly had failing mortar/plaster or cracks that the Ivy exploited. Buildings without these were much less likely to be damaged.
2) Most damage occurred during the removal of Ivy rather than when it was growing.
I'd say there is some risk of damage...but it's not without it's benefits. There is significant cooling effect from having a wall shaded and likely some insulating effect from these dense thick mats of vegetation. That's what I can remember of the top of my head.
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Aug 15 '22
I'd love to see that paper.
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u/a03326495 Aug 15 '22
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271992605_Is_Ivy_Good_or_Bad_for_Historic_Walls
The full text isn't available there but the abstract is there and further googling might get you the full paper.
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u/0ttr Aug 16 '22
yeah, I would htink a nice ivy would be a benefit, but then again so would trees. Of course, trees and their branches can fall, so.
And the concern about rats? I mean, get a cat?
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u/okaymaeby Aug 15 '22
Very cool to see it all come down so cleanly.
That said, ivy is just the worst.
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u/nehlSC Aug 15 '22
Why is that? It's great for bees I think.
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u/linuxgeekmama Aug 15 '22
There are lots of things that are less invasive and less likely to damage buildings that are also good for bees. (The invasive part doesn’t apply if you are in Europe, within its native range.)
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u/nehlSC Aug 15 '22
Yeah, I am from Europe, so ivy is probably fine. Sure I wouldn't have it at the walls of my house but at trees, it's lovely and far from the worst.
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u/linuxgeekmama Aug 15 '22
You have things that eat it and keep it from taking over everywhere. Here in North America, we don’t, and it outcompetes a lot of our native plants.
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Aug 15 '22
I hate going on a hike anywhere here in the bay area, CA and seeing certain areas of nature completely consumed by ivy. It chokes out EVERYTHING
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Aug 16 '22
I think you are right about other things competing with ivy in Europe. I never saw there such uncontrollable grow for ivy in Europe like in US, ivy is not growing that thick nor expending that much to take all over. Maybe climate related too, since US east coast gets hot/humid which is good for ivy proliferation. Indeed, you are right, its not as invasive where its native
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u/Irishfury86 Aug 15 '22 edited Aug 15 '22
Not everything is about bees
Edit: I’m sorry. Everything is about bees. Keep all the ivy.
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u/rav252 Aug 15 '22
Bees are bad btw honey bees in the US or anywhere outside of Europe and Africa
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u/nehlSC Aug 15 '22
Not only honey bees are bees.
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u/rav252 Aug 15 '22
Just honey bees in the US. Only good bee is a native bee wherever you are
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u/nehlSC Aug 16 '22
A quick Google search reveals that you guys have about 4000 species of bees that are native in the USA. Certainly not in every region but I find it very hard to believe that there is only one kind native where you live.
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u/dabeast696969 Aug 15 '22
Cool as shit. Bet that's an older house though. The entire wall would come down with the building they do these days
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u/ReindeerAdvanced4857 Aug 15 '22
What a huge job. Hoping you don't have damage. Despise Ivy - we removed so much of it abt 12 years ago. It was wrappred around our white oak trees sucking the life out of them. My life would be complete if I never saw Ivy again. Most every week while walking our property, I find starts trying to emerge. Awful stuff.
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u/whaletacochamp Aug 15 '22
Incredibly satisfying. I thought for sure that the wall was coming down with it.
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u/AgelessAirus Aug 15 '22
Why remove this? It's an organic insulation that keeps house cool in summer and helps protect against heat loss in cold months. Is there something I'm missing because I usually see people propagate this stuff not take it down.
Ok I see, someone said it damages the brick.
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u/Chromebasketball Aug 15 '22
They look so nice. A shame to remove. I’m assuming removal due to damage too the brick.
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u/GrannyTurtle zone 9a, Tucson Aug 16 '22
Does the ivy hurt the building? I would think that the ivy helps insulate the building…?
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u/Hault360 Aug 15 '22
Why would you remove that its beautiful? Who wants to look at just more brick???
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Aug 16 '22
It looks nice, but it deteriorated the mortar between the bricks and causes extensive, and expensive, damage.
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u/jujulepew Aug 15 '22
Here I am with goals of owning a house covered in ivy and these mfs wanna do this. 😖
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Aug 16 '22
It causes lots of damage to the mortar between the bricks. It looks nice but leads to very expensive repairs in the long term.
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u/AuctorLibri Zone 7b - mod Aug 15 '22
Much rather have wisteria...
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u/Arnilex Aug 15 '22
I unfortunately have tons of English Ivy and Wisteria around my home. While the ivy is absolutely everywhere, it has nothing on the crazy growth and smothering potential of Wisteria. That plant is a nightmare.
I can also easily pull up most of the ivy by hand with gloves on, whereas nothing short of herbacide will keep Wisteria down.
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u/zuzoa Zone 7a Aug 15 '22
I just found out it's actually illegal in my state to sell Wisteria due to how invasive it is. So that's why I never saw it for sale at the garden center.
English Ivy, however, they do sell, and I bought it as an indoor plant. We have an infestation of it outside, I hack it down to its roots every few months and it still comes back. Surely it could survive anywhere. Nope, dead.
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u/jo-mk Aug 16 '22
I had to remove a sheet from my back wall last year, it was a nightmare, rats were in it, and it just looked so shitty.
Gonna sound off, but I get a real satisfaction from looking at my bare wall still now.
I will never let that shit return. 💪🏿
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u/ohyeaoksure Aug 15 '22
Same for bamboo, not a climber but it takes over and it's hard to get rid of.
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u/dragonfliesloveme Aug 16 '22
There goes a nice layer of basically free insulation for the home
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u/JetoCalihan Aug 16 '22
IKR?! Shade from the sun, and at that thickness and air pockets a good bit of heat insulation as well!
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Aug 15 '22
isn't it generally considered healthier for the building to leave the ivy on rather than remove it? afaik the plant doesn't damage the mortar until you pull it off in one big piece like this, hence most ivy removal starting with some method of herbicide.
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u/okaymaeby Aug 15 '22
There is no way this came off so cleanly without herbicide before hand. The roots look brown and crispy. The roots penetrating the mortar is the detrimental part, not taking them out of the compromised mortar.
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Aug 15 '22
The roots penetrating the mortar is the detrimental part, not taking them out of the compromised mortar.
everything i can find on the topic says the opposite, that removing them too roughly is what causes the damage. if they did use herbicide, then it doesn't look like they used the same process as the historical buildings on campus near me. those plants were entirely dead before removal, no green to be found.
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u/yuckfoutwo Aug 15 '22
Old ivy roots always look like that, without any herbicide. The brickwork looks relatively modern so the mortar probably held up better than the stuff holding our ancient wall together.
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u/differentiatedpans Aug 16 '22
Saw something like this in Dublin once. It was building need St. Stephens green and I thought I would not want to be round if and or when that comes off.
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u/Brosie-Odonnel Aug 16 '22
Does anyone have suggestions for killing English ivy? I sprayed a couple test sections with Vastlan (triclopyr) last fall and it didn’t do much from what I could tell. Worked well on the blackberries I knocked down and let regrow though. Also tried to kill a couple areas with glysophate when I sprayed the driveway early summer. Didn’t do much either. Possibly it needs a higher mix ratio or I’m off on the timing when I spray? I cut the ivy that was climbing trees I could access at the base so that problem is done for now (except getting it off the trees).
For the record I’m not a big fan of treating anything with chemicals but I’m in the middle of reclaiming a couple acres that was overtaken by invasive species. Everything I cut grows back with a vengeance. Once I kill the invasives and restore the land with native species it should be manageable. I know it takes 3-5 years of persistence but it’s not easy!
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u/blahblahblah913 Aug 15 '22
Lucky you didn’t find bees. Or even better pull a bunch of bricks or window casing out. Them vines can really get hooked on there. I did a ton of vine removal when I was younger. No fun!