When and how to plant ivy in the garden?

Ivy is a perennial climber

Ivy is such an easy climbing plant to care for, it is often enough just to plant it in the garden and give it some risks so that it remains beautiful on its own. In addition, as it has a fairly fast growth rate, in less time than we think we can have a lattice, a wall or the ground covered with precious leaves.

Of course, for that it is very necessary to know when and how to plant ivy, since if we do it at a time that is not the right one, it could spoil. Before I start with the explanation of the article, we want you to know a few useful information for you.

Curious facts about this species

Ivy is a nice garden plant

The first of them is that these are plants that do not necessarily require natural light to survive. This means that you can easily take a pot, plant your ivy and have it inside your house without worrying about it dying. The truth is that this is an aspect of the plant that draws a lot of attention due to its versatility when it comes to serving as an ornamental plant.

The next thing we want you to know is that you have the opportunity to have not only one type of ivy, but several of them with different shapes in their leaves and flowers. Of course, if you want ivy without flowers, there are also them.

However, what is the point of creating a plant wall with only leaves when you have the possibility of adding flowers to it?

Characteristics of ivy

Keep in mind that most ivy share similar characteristics, so the following information can be applied to the different ivy variations that exist.

Roots

Despite growing in large numbers at incredible speed, ivy roots are non-invasive. The good thing is that if you have them in your garden you should not worry about the pipes, since in general, its roots are superficially and they do not reach great depths.

stems

Both stems and roots can be seen with the naked eye. So if at any time you decide to eliminate this plant from your garden or garden, you can do it very easily. Now, in young ivy, it is common to see that the stems have knots.

The plant itself has climbing and crawling characteristicsIt is for this reason that it is often used to cover floors or walls. The funny thing is that the ivy genus has two different types of branches:

  • Young but flexible branches and stems that have the ability to attach to aerial surfaces.
  • Adult and fertile branches lacking aerial roots.

Leaves

Those leaves that belong to ivy with sterile branches, usually are lobed or webbed in shape wherein the nerves are branched in great numbers. These are usually separated by a kind of long internode.

On the other hand, the leaves that belong to the fertile branches, these have a different shape and are usually whole, although they can also adopt a lanceolate or oval shape.

A curious fact is that the leaves tend to have a different color and while some species have a green color, others can have a deep red.

Flores

The truth is that there is not much to talk about these characteristics of the plant. Simply have greenish-yellow or purple hermaphroditic flowers (varies by species) and tend to cluster in umbel inflorescences.

On the other hand, you have to know that heinflorescence occurs during late summer. The funny thing is that if you have the plant indoors, it is very difficult for it to flower.

Fruits

In case you didn’t know, this species of plant has the ability to generate both flowers and fruits in the form of berries and normally they are black. But according to the ivy variation, they tend to turn yellow or red.

When is it planted?

Ivy can be potted

La ivy It is an evergreen climber that grows practically all year round, but during the winter this rate slows down a bit so that it can take advantage of the energy to overcome the winter and not to grow.

If we take this into account, the ideal time to plant it in the garden will be in early springwhich will be when little by little the heat of said season will take it out of winter rest.

We can also do it in autumn, as long as we live in an area where the climate is mild and where frosts do not occur (or they are very mild).

How is it planted?

Once we have decided on the day we are going to plant it, we have to follow this step by step:

  1. First, we have to choose its location, which must be a place where it is in semi-shade.
  2. Then, we will make the planting hole, which has to have a greater depth than the one in the pot. For example, if the container is about 20cm high, the hole must be at least 30cm deep.
  3. Then, we carefully extract the plant from the pot, giving it a few taps if necessary so that it can come out better.
  4. Next, we place it in the center of the hole, and fill it with soil.
  5. Finally, we make a tree grate (an earth barrier with a height of about 3cm that surrounds the entire hole so that the water does not get lost) and we will water consciously.

Care

At this point you already know how and when to plant your ivy, but you still do not know the care or requirements that the plant needs to be able to thrive, whether you have it in a pot inside your house or outside. The requirements are:

Temperature

There is an average range which the plant needs in order to live. Is it must be located in a place whose ambient temperature is within 12 to 30 ° C., although in general, they are species that can cope with the cold.

But of course, not any temperature is good, since it has a level that it can withstand and this is only 7 ° C. The lower the temperature, the more it will begin to suffer. That is why people are advised to be careful with the plant in times of frost.

Humidity level

The only thing you have to know at this point is that ivy needs a soil and environment with high humidity.

Light level

At this point it will depend a lot on the type of ivy variant. Even though the normal thing is that the vast majority need to be in a bright area. Those species that are variegated type will require a greater amount of light (but not direct).

Furthermore, having it in direct sunlight can seriously damage them. The normal thing is that you see the damage in its leaves, since they tend to turn a whitish hue.

Substrate and irrigation

Ivy grows fast

All ivy that you want to plant in your house must be in a soil or substrate that is fertile and whose pH level is close to 6. On the other hand, irrigation has to be moderatebeing something that has to be done just when the substrate is completely dry.

Reproduction

So far we have explained the most essential and most remarkable of these plants, but we have not yet mentioned how ivies reproduce. For now, you should know that you have three different options to make them reproduce, which are:

Reproduction by seeds

To proceed to the reproduction of ivy by seeds, you will have to do the collection during the wintersince this is the period where the seeds tend to be more mature.

Once you have them, you should proceed to clean it, so that remove all the fleshy part of the berry. Then you will place it in a place where there is no light or humidity.

It is worth mentioning that the sowing of the seed should be done during the spring and with a special substrate for indoor plants.

Playback by layering

This is a method which consists of taking part of a branch and placing it under the ground. You will have to take some branches and sow them as if they were roots, later and after the weeks, new stems and new roots will begin to emerge.

Reproduction by cuttings

This procedure unlike the first, you should do it at the time of year when it is hotter and what you should do is make a series of cuts in branches about 10 cm long. You have to make sure you get several units of stems that have a maximum of three leaves.

Then you will plant it and make sure to protect the ivy from drafts and keep it away from direct sun. With a spray bottle or sprayer, go adding water to the cuttings just at the hottest time of day.

When and how to plant ivy in the garden?

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