A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Planting English Ivy on a slope!

Hello all!

My front yard is pretty sloped, probably 40-45 degrees, and my husband and I were wanting to cover it with English Ivy. The space to be covered is around 700 square feet. However, we are afraid that once we plant the ivy, the ground all around it will erode with the first good rain and were considering using some sort of netting to keep the ground around the plants in place until they are well-established. Do any of you have any suggestions as to what type of netting material we should use? We want a material that will decompose and especially one that would not make it difficult to install the large number of plants. Any help is greatly appreciated!

hi kellilou, and welcome to the forums.

If you actually do manage to complete this project I think it will be a magnificent sight!
I don't know if you'll be able to find any kind of netting material that will:
A. not interfere with the ivy spreading
B. be strong enough to hold the ivy in and
C. decompose rapidly enough to reduce interference with the spreading of the ivy.

Maybe someone here knows better than me though.
If I were you I would take things more slowly, plant a few and let them get established, and then plant more. That way the ones you are putting in always have networks of roots from other established plants to hold them in place.

Hi kellilou!

I'm new at this forum. I don't know how English Ivy thrives in your USDA zone, but here in Tallahassee, FL, it is very invasive.

Just wanted to pass along our own experience with it. When we bought our home in 1991, the previous owner had started just a very few sprigs of it on a backyard slope.

In a couple of years it had covered the slope, and is now so invasive that we had to pay someone to continually pull it out, even in our front yard (wooded & natural, not lawn).

It is almost as bad as kudzu here. It continues to grow all year.

Hopefully this will not be a problem in your area.

I don't mean to sound discouraging, but I thought you might want to check this out in your area.

Good luck with your project! Please let me know how it works out for you.

Judith

What do you think of myrtle? It is not as invasive, is evergreen and has a beautiful blue flower in the spring.

Judith,
I agree with you!!!
The English Ivy does become invasive..
(I would especially think so with those constant
warm temps!!)

And Rue,
I think that's a good alternative??

Weezie

We have periwinkle on a hill that is just as steep as yours. We have ivy on another hill across the walkway from the periwinkle. The ivy is super invasive as is actually attacking my periwinkle. ANYWAYS, the periwinkle is nice. Its got a pretty blue in the spring and then for the rest of the year, looks like a form of ivy to some degree. It stays green, and when it gets overgrown, you just have to take a weedwacker to it to trim it and it comes right back. We like it....it looks nice. Hope this helps.