Ivy Plant

The ivy plant is actually named Hedera and is a beautiful ground creeping and climbing plant of the Araliaceae family. Being evergreen the ivy plant is not affected by season, as most other plants would be, and goes more for a continuous growth instead of seasonable growth. If the ivy plant is close enough to rock or wood, both natural and artificial, this marvellous plant can reach a height up to 100 feet (30 meters).

Enjoying medium temperatures, the ivy plant can be found on various Atlantic islands, in south and central Europe, north-western Africa and across the south-central parts of Asia, stretching all the way to Japan. .

Cultivated the ivy could thrive in other places but these are the areas within which the ivy plants grow wild.

Although cultivated for its beautiful flowers and climbing ability, it has come to more and more people’s attention that the ivy plant actually is an invasive weed. Hard to get rid of, it has grown from an appreciated addition to your garden to something from your worst nightmare in some cases. So when you plant ivy plants, be sure to know that it is ivy you want, and tend to your garden regularly.

There are some stories about ivy plants killing off trees and damaging houses. This is nothing more than stories, trees are mostly not affected by the presence of ivy plants and there is no real battle for nutrition in the soil, the ivy simply doesn’t need that much nutrition so it can starve a tree. Only on the American continent can ivy be a problem because it isn’t a part of the natural flora. Due to the lack of pests and natural enemies the ivy plant can grow at such a rate that it overwhelms the tree and therefore kill it. It is, though, very unlikely. Unless you live in a very old house the climbing ivy plant will not even cause any serious harm to your home. Using mortar between bricks to climb it can even be more damaging trying to remove ivy plants then just letting them be and trimming them once and awhile. If you do live in a really old house made out of bricks, do not let the ivy plant get a stronghold on you. The old mortar that were used to fixate bricks together were softer than the modern kind and will most likely crumble as the ivy plant will try to climb it. Maybe it isn’t as serious as it sounds but you wouldn’t want to bet on it now would you?

It is a common misunderstanding that the ivy plant is poisonous, other than that their berries are, but the ivy is not at all dangerous for your health. Although sharing pieces of each others name, the poison ivy plant is not at all related to the ivy plant, at least nothing more than they are both plants under the class Magnoliopsida.

Copyright 2006 ivyplant.info. Header Picture by Uwe H. Friese
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