Green Living Fence, with English Ivy - really environmentally friendly?

Discussion in 'Plants: Conservation' started by wcutler, Nov 12, 2016.

  1. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    The November 3, 2017 Friday gardening column in the Vancouver Sun presented some "creative new garden products", one of which goes by the name Green Living Fences, which are planted with English Ivy, as an "environmentally friendly way to provide privacy and security". The Vancouver Sun links don't stay around, so here is the direct link in that article to the supplier's website: Green Living Fences | Devron Ltd..

    In a discussion with Deborah Jones, my streamkeeper friend, I was trying defend Hedera helix as being generally not so bad, and probably not bad with its roots restricted as they would be in these fences, and I tried to make the point the much of the out-of control ivy growth in local forests is Hedera hibernica, Baltic Ivy. Deborah quoted a page from Oregon State University, English ivy is an invasive weed in Pacific Northwest | Oregon State University Extension Service | Gardening, which says
    Deborah added:
    The 2 problems I see with the living ivy fence idea (at $400 a panel, so people will try to copy the idea more cheaply) is that:

    (1) Regardless of cultivar, it may revert and/or produce seeds that are dumped into the wild, some of which will have the invasive characteristics; and

    (2) 99.9% of potential adopters of the ivy fence idea will be totally unaware of which cultivars are "safe". Whether they're replacing an ivy that died, or copying the idea more cheaply themselves, they'll just buy the most readily available inexpensive ivy -- thus jeopardizing tens of thousands of hours of volunteer labour throughout the Lower Mainland, as well as education of gardeners to avoid ivy.​

    I'm attaching a photo that shows why she was being so testy about this.
    IvyPull_CougarCreekStreamkeepers.png
     
  2. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    I take it the trophy pieces in the picture are ivy roots. It's quite the eye-opener. I would never have associated ivy with such massive roots.
     
  3. Botanically Baked

    Botanically Baked New Member

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    wow talk about invasive. incredible.
     
  4. raingarden

    raingarden New Member

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    The Oregon state English Ivy Management Resource Packet is a compendium of information about this too. The horticulturalist who wrote the fact sheet said it had destroyed the fence she was cutting it off of, and it can make trees fall over (if allowed to grow up and around the trunk). Looks nice on concrete though, better for that or a rock wall it seems.
     

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