IVY.........is there a difference?

Hi Guys........'Pain' from Poole here again!

I have been to 3 garden centres looking for a couple of climbing Ivy plants. All I have seen so far are trailing Ivy plants. Is there a difference. By that I mean, can one induce a trailing ivy to climb instead? Sounds like a daft question to me, but I have honestly seen nothing that says it climbs. I want to cover a rose arch with a couple of varieties, a plain and a varigated and as always..........need help.

Kind regards to you all and as always, thank you. Dave

 

Well - I'm sure that there are loads of people on this forum who know more than me, but I don't think there is any difference. The smaller 'trailing' ivies are sometimes marketed as such because they're the daintier varieties which people use for window boxes and containers.

In my experience ivy will flop, trail, climb - whatever. I think two on one rose frame might be a bit much - unless the frame is very strong.

 

All ivies climb, eventually. Agreed about the weight, once they get going they are heavy. Of course you can trim them back though.

 

Thanks guys. I would of course keep them in check. Ivy seems a very hardy plant though and possibly ideal for my arch. I'm looking for something evergreen that will withstand a battering from all sides when the winds etc come. Ivy seems the way I will go.

 

'Colchica' has the big leaves, Canariensis & Dentata have the yellow edges and for green edges but yellow centres go for Goldheart but remember they also creep along the ground and once in a lawn its hard to get rid of.

 

I have a similar ivy to Woo, but with varigated leaves. I choose the larger leaved one in order to get a better display.

 

Hedera colchica in all its forms is slightly tender. We lost our variegated one this winter. There are well over 200 forms of H. hiburnica on the walls of the Walled garden at Erddig near Wrexham.