Taming an Ivy Bank - Part Two

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Thursday’s weather forecast was - breezy with temp in the low 60’s. That sounded like a heat wave after the freezing wind. The gusts seemed as strong as the other days but at least it was a little warmer.

I trimmed the ivy that had overgrown the heather (Erica x darleyensis 'Silberschmelze').
I carefully unwound the ivy so I didn’t break the heather’s tender branches. It was slow going.

The ground under the greedy maple tree was dry from 2 days of wind. I continued pulling and clipping. I didn’t get as many roots as I did the on the two previous days. I sat on my little garden cart and wiggled my way along the bank.

As I was wiggling along I heard a loud CRACK. It was so loud that it made me jumped and run. I crept back under the tree and looked up. I could see a large cracked branch high in the tree. I grabbed my tools and scooted out of there. A short while later the branch came crashing down into the ivy where I was working.

My husband dragged it to the street and cut it into fireplace size. That was the end of day 3. Add another hour for a total of 4 on this cleanup so far. I’ll finish on Day 4 – without wind, I hope.

Ivy is a great plant – hardy, holds the bank well, smothers most weeds, keeps a deep green color through most of the year but it is a lot of work. I’ll be back to trim this summer and again in fall – with one eye on the big old maple.
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Taming an Ivy Bank

(This has turned into a long post so I’ll break it up into 2 parts. It’s the usual cleanup story with a twist. You’ll understand after you read part 2 on Wednesday.)

If you’re thinking of using ivy as a ground cover, I’d like to share the story of my ivy covered bank with you. It was called American Ivy by the neighbor who gave it to me many years ago. I usually work on the bank 3 times in the growing season. I didn’t keep it trimmed and weeded last year so it was quite a mess this spring. The ivy had grown over the rocks, into the heather and it was full of weeds.

After 3” of rain at the beginning of the week, I jumped at the chance to get the bank trimmed and weeded while the ground was still moist. It's Impossible to pull weeds up by the roots when the ground is dry.

In order to get the roots, I needed to reach down so grass didn’t break off. I was mostly successful. I also got the ever-present maple tree seedlings out. They are easier to get out if you pull them when they are very young.

I spent about 3 hours in a cold, biting, 20 to 30 mile-an-hour gusty wind on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to AccuWeather “real feel” dropped to the low 40’s. There was a freeze warning – not a frost warning - Tuesday and Wednesday night.

After the 3 hours, I had over half of the bed finished. Feeling frozen, I promised myself to come back the next day when the weather was predicted to be warmer. I was paying for last year's laziness.

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