Friend or foe?
One man’ s meat is another man’ s poison. The biggest mixed reaction comes from a brilliant evergreen climber, the humble ivy. This climber places suckers upon whatever is chooses to grow up so that no trellising and support of required. It remains green all year round and provides a nice home for all sorts of garden insects.
The downside is that ivy can take over a structure or building, often clinging to windows and eeking it’ s way in via window frames and cracks in any brickwork or hard landscaping, and then it becomes a problem. It sucks the life put of your shed walls or fencing, causing premature rot. Removing it or killing it at the roots also has a downside, it may take the rendering down with it and tends to pull away at the mortar between your bricks. Not pretty and can lead to expensive repairs.
As much as I love ivy, I find restricting it to hanging baskets is best for everyone.
Letting ivy get into your gutters or under your roof tile line is guaranteed to produce damp in the building. If you put it in a pot which is on the ground, move the pot once a year at least to check the roots have not broken rank and are invading the ground beneath. Above all else, stay vigilant. Most climbers romping up your roofline will cause problems, so remember to keep climbers at least a foot away from the gutter line.
Virginia Creeper is another clinging climber, although it causes less damage, it can peel away the paint to your render and adores sneaking into properties via windows.
A super large pot with a high and mighty obelisk climbing trellis is another a suggestion for these bullet proof climbers; perfect for shady dry sites where the garden architecture requires height. For those of us lucky enough to have woodland areas, ivy may be a necessary evil for ground cover, but if I were you, a smattering of periwinkle, Vinca Minor, is preferred as it will spread about without suffocating any young saplings.
A London client of mine has an amazing Virginia Creeper along railings beside her long driveway and it covered an ugly garage, but both were well away from the dwelling house. In the winter the foliage dies back and any repairs to the railings or garage roof could be attended to easily without much damage.
Bamboo is another friend or foe. You will see plenty of horror stories in the press of late, and I implore you to please take them very seriously. Bamboo is for pots with no drainage holes and zero access to the ground. Don’ t be smug and think your bamboo roots will not burrow into your patio or driveway, because they will and the only way to get rid of it is to dig up all the hard landscaping. Be aware when you are looking for a new home, do take
Poison Ivy- not recommended for your gutters or roof tiles
note if any neighbour has bamboo in their garden, because it will invade.
In summary, romping climbers and plants that spread easily underground are an easy option when the growing conditions are less than ideal. As long as you are aware of the consequence and take the right precautions, all will be well.
Nancy Kirk
Open every day from 10am- 8pm( Sunday 11am)
800 WINES 500 BEERS & CIDERS 300 SPIRITS
We have a huge range including sake, natural, organic, biodynamic, gluten free and vegan.
We have a range of non-alcoholic drinks too.
104 Dyke Road Brighton BN1 3JD www. sevencellars. co. uk 01273 327777