I can not get our ivy to stick to the brick wall! It has been planted 6 inches from the wall for 4 months and only one or two little guys actually stuck. Most hang very loosely. It has not thrived and does not appear to be growing up. The ivy we planted was 4 feet tall, and appears to still be. We have tried taping parts, liquid concrete, and fishing line! HELP! What doe the landscapers use?
Power Drill
Masonry Bit
Tapcon Concrete Screws
Clear Silicone
Pick out the screws, pick out a bit with a smaller diameter and grab some clear silicone.
Drill holes where desired, incert screw half way in and seal with silicone.
I have no idea what a landscaper would do.
WEAR EYE PROTECTION!
are you sure you want to do that? The mortar between the bricks does occassionaly need maintenance and if you have ivy all over it that's going to be difficult. I know I am looking a long way down the road but it can be important. And have you thought what the ivy is going to look like during the winter months? These are just thoughts for your consideration.
How about getting a trellis wall of some sort that you can fasten against the house and let the ivy climb that instead of making permanemt changes to the brick. Get it or paint it in a color that will blend in with the ivy.
Having been in the house painting business for 20 years my advice to you would be "Don't do it". I've seen ivy grow underneath wood siding so aggresively it buckled the boards, it will find it's way in between your window panes and grow as if in a small greenhouse. Eventually it will find and penetrate every tiny crack in your brick mortar expediting it's failure. It's bad news for the most part IMHO.
John
Perhaps siding is not the best choice for an ivy covered wall but people have been growing ivy against brick walls for centuries and still do. Clearing ivy from the wall can increase maintenace and repair time and you would want to regularly prune around windown and doors and eavestroughs but if you were willing to do the extra work, IMHO ivy is beautiful climbing a brick wall. Have you tried training the ivy on netting?
Ivy is sortof like a parasite to a brick house. It will actually take the mortar OUT of the cracks between the bricks making the "lifetime" of the brick and mortar much much shorter than a house without the ivy.
In fact, just recently, there was an old house down the road from here that was very beautiful, large, and brick. Well, the old owner passed on and a new couple bought it. In further exploration of the brick and mortar (after the first winter when they found the house hard to heat) They found that the Ivy (which was covering nearly all of two sides of the house) was actually creating large holes in the mortar.
Due to this, unless you are doing it on a brick wall that is not attached to your house (like a brick "fence" around your property) I do not ever recommend letting Ivy grow on the walls...
I am moving my ivy from a retaining wall to the side of my shed but plan to grow the ivy on a trellis or maybe some wire mesh like chicken wire. Sounds better then some of these horror stories
Tricia - Ivy takes time to become established. Then, when it does, it takes over and you wish you'd never planted it. Try a trellis that can be removed when you get tired of it. Or try climbing roses instead.
Bubble gum - ha ha ha ha!
I've heard that ivy on the side of a house collects bus.
Husbands grandmother had to have her fireplace redone due to the ivy growing on the outside of it causeing the motar to crack.