Ivy plants are beautiful plants when they are managed correctly. These plants can make a lovely ground cover in your garden, but there are some things you need to be aware of first. So, let’s look at the pros and cons of Ivy plants for coverage.
Ivy plants have a few pros and cons when used as a cover. Some of these include that you can plant many Ivy varieties together to make a very pleasing aesthetic, and they are low-maintenance plants, but they can easily take over your garden and damage structures, to name a few pros and cons.
The 5 Pros Of Ivy Plants For Coverage
Ivy plants are popping up in more gardens around the country as they make for a great ground cover plant. These plants can look beautiful and accentuate your garden very well. Let’s have a look at the pros of having Ivy plants as a coverage plant in your garden.
1. Ivy Plants Are Low-Maintenance
Ivy plants are extremely low-maintenance plants and do not require much care from you for the plant to grow well. Ivy plants can easily grow on their own and require little fertilizing, watering, or other attention from you for them to spread in a flower bed.
Ivy plants are very hardy vine-type plants that can also survive in almost any soil type, which means you don’t need to worry about the soil’s pH level, nutrient level, or whether the soil is sandy or damp. The Ivy plant will grow in all of them, which lowers the effort you need to grow them.
2. There Are Many Ivy Plant Varieties
There are many Ivy plant variations that you can choose from to plant in your garden as a ground cover. Many people are familiar with the English Ivy plant, but many other Ivy types have different leaf shapes and colors for you to choose from.
You can also plant different types of Ivy plants in your garden together. This gives you great diversity in your garden and ensures your garden has multiple color variations, with different plant shapes that complement each other well for the ground cover.
Some other Ivy plant types include Buttercup, which has bright yellow leaves in the sun, but light green leaves in the shade. Another one is Anne Marie which is a variegated Ivy plant that catches your eye.
3. Ivy Plants Grow Fast
Ivy plants grow pretty quickly, making them excellent ground cover plants as they will spread and cover the area you want them to within a short period. This is great for people who have bare patches of soil in their garden that they need to be covered quickly if they are selling their house, as an example.
Ivy plants can grow about 15 feet in one year, and they are climbing plants too/ so if you have a trellis nearby, they will take full advantage of it.
4. Ivy Plants Complement Trees
There has been a common misconception about Ivy plants, particularly English Ivy plants, in that they will kill the tree they climb on. This is false, and the Ivy plants rarely harm the trees they climb on in any way.
Ivy plants will stay below the tree’s canopy, so they will not block the tree from receiving sunlight, and the Ivy plant will not “steal” the tree’s nutrients from the soil either. Many people allow their Ivy plants to climb the trees in their garden as this creates a lovely, fairy-tale-like aesthetic in their garden.
5. Ivy Plants Can Grow In The Shade
Most Ivy plants are shade-loving plants and can easily be grown in the shady parts of your garden. This, with the Ivy plants hardiness and ability to grow just about anywhere, means that you can grow a healthy Ivy plant garden cover in areas of your garden where other plants battle to grow, so you will not have a bare, plant-free space in your garden with this plant around.
The 4 Cons Of Ivy Plants For Coverage
Although Ivy plants offer some great advantages when you grow them in your garden for coverage, they also have a few cons that you need to be aware of. Let’s go through these cons, so you understand everything you need to about these plants before you choose to plant them in your garden.
1. Ivy Plants Will Interfere With Other Plants
As Ivy plants are fast growers, they tend to take over the flower bed you plant them in. Ivy plans will begin to strangle any small plants near it as it grows or slows the bigger plants’ growth.
Some varieties of Ivy plants can physically put other plants aside to ensure it receives the nutrients it needs to survive. Ivy grows into a thick coverage, too, so no plant will survive under the thick layer of Ivy.
2. Ivy Plants Will Climb Close Structures
Ivy plants are climbing plants, and they will begin to grow up any structure near it. The Ivy will grow up your sidings or walls and then across your home roof, and the plant will grow up nearby trees. Even though some people like the look of the Ivy climbing up their home, you need to be careful and take precautions.
Ivy plants can cause stress on the structures they climb on as these plants can become heavy. This can eventually lead to structural damage to your home or even the tree in your garden if the tree is old. This means that you may have to cut the plant back repeatedly to ensure your home does not get damaged.
3. Most Ivy Plants Are Toxic
Most Ivy plant varieties are toxic to humans and animals. Their leaves and berries can be toxic if ingested by a child or a pet, and their leaves can cause skin irritation if you or your pet brushes past them. This can be a concern for people with pets and small children.
4. Ivy Plants Are Difficult To Get Rid Of
There is a saying that will apply to Ivy plants; the expression is, once you have it, you have it for life. Ivy plants are notoriously difficult to get rid of once you grow them. These plants will grow like weeds if you do not manage them correctly, so if you do not have the time to trim an Ivy ground cover, do not plant it.
