Vivez Bien * Live Well

Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Aesthete's Alphabet - I is for Ivy

 


I know many gardeners who are not that keen on ivy, finding it too invasive. Not being possessed of the greenest of fingers, I find ivy a very useful plant to have in my garden. Quick growing, evergreen and hardy, it can hide unsightly walls or fences in no time at all. It also works fantastically as a ground cover, requires very little maintenance and can be pruned and trained into whatever shape or form is required. Frank Lloyd Wright, architect and interior designer is attributed with saying "Doctors bury their mistakes, architects cover them with ivy". The picture below is of an area in my garden where I battled to get anything to grow very well because of the shade and bad soil. The ivy hides a horrible vibracrete wall and works as a ground cover between the pots.
 
 
Ivy can also be grown indoors as long as it is exposed to sufficient light. Planted in a beautiful urn or decorative pot with the stems trailing down, ivy makes a wonderful table decoration. Have a look at these images and see what a versatile plant ivy can be and maybe you too will be converted.
 



















 









 
Stay tuned for J is for..............
 
Till next time.
 
Sharon x
 
All images via Tumblr and Pinterest

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful Sharon!!!
    Thanks for posting.
    Have a nice week!
    Bette xx

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  2. Sharon, I am crazy about ivy, and have it everywhere in my garden! Many years ago, in desperation, I planted it to fill the beds in our very large, fledgling shade garden....because of cost and maintenance issues it answered my prayers! It has rewarded me in spades...this is a lovely post....ivy is one of the backbones of my garden design....N.xo

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  3. Hi Sharon, I love all the green climbers! Ivy is so pretty and easy to grow. The urns are beautiful! Hope you are well:) xxleslie

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  4. Sharon,
    I love ivy and have used it in my backyard to cover the ugly block wall fence. I use it wherever I can because it's such a great basic plant. Some of these images are going in my file for future ideas. Ivy topiary is classic. Such a creative subject for "I". As I've said, this is one of my favorite series, great job, Sharon,
    Karen

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  5. oh my gosh the ivy between the stair tred is GENIUS. i wish i had the patience and disciple to do something like that!

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  6. Such a wonderful ideas! I love Ivy, it's easy to grow and so beautiful with those little leafs (like little stars) :). Thank you very much!
    Have a great day!
    Notting Hill carpet cleaners

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  7. So beautiful that it makes me want to go and work on my patio this weekend. Spring is in the air and I love Ivy!

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