I have a healthy patch of ivy in my front yard that runs from the length of the house and extends about 7 feet out from the front. To better manage the water around the foundation of my house I am going to build dirt burm next to the house. I you like your opinion on handling the ivy. I would like to keep the ivy as it is attractive
and a good ground cover.
Here are the specifics and my questions.
The burm will be composed of fill dirt and formed into a triangular shape with the 90 degree angle of the triangle being at the base of the house. The height with be 5 inches(12.7 centimeters) and the length will be 5 ft. (1.52 meters) (thus a long gradual slope). Thus the ivy closes to the house will be covered in 5 inches (12.7 cm) of dirt and as the burm extends away from the
house the thickness of the dirt covering the ivy will decrease. When I build the burm I will be compacting the dirt with a manual ground
tamper.
I have though of several ways to handle the ivy that is currently on the site were the burm will be.
1) Do nothing to the ivy and hope that it is strong enough to push through the soil I put on top of it. (although I am fearful it won't
be able to once I tamp the ground.) In this scenario I would also hope the ivy on the fringe of the burm would start
growing in the dirt and
eventually cover it all up.
2) Try digging up the ivy, installing the burm and then putting the ivy back on top of the burm. Would this cause too much root trauma?
Is this even feasible from a labor stand point since I believe ivy has an extensive root system. How deep do the roots usually go?
Do you have recommendations on what is the best way to transplant ivy?
3) If digging up the ivy is an option when is the best time of year, from the roots' health stand point, to try this? Is it acceptable to
do it in December in a relative mild winter climate (central North Carolina?) in the United States. This is a hardiness
zone 7.
Thank you for your time and information.