Boston ivy is used to cover the side of this building and adds the perfect back drop for a sidewalk garden. This garden literally “stopped me in my tracks” when I first saw it.
An ivy covered arbor leads to a secluded, private patio along the side of this house.
This law firm in Birmingham, Michigan uses ivy to soften the sides of their building. The ivy is trained to resemble pillars running along the side of the building. Ivy is also used in the flower beds to border the sidewalk.
I have always been a fan of ivy covered trellis work. I realize the plant in this photo is not ivy, but ivy can be used in a similar fashion. What a clever way to make a plain concrete wall look beautiful. I want to create something like this at the rear of my garage.
Ivy is tough enough to use along a busy sidewalk to edge a flower border. You need to make certain to keep the ivy in check though, or it’ll take over the whole garden before you know it.
The trial gardens at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial use ivy instead of expensive boxwood to line the edges of the flower beds. It maintains its green color during winter, is inexpensive and isn’t sensitive to salt like boxwood which makes it perfect for public gardens in cold climates.
Would I do this to my house? Probably not, but I love the ivy climbing up the chimney of this house. The windows need a bit of a trim, but I have to admit the ivy makes the house sink into the landscape.
This horse chestnut tree has its trunk completely encased in a climbing hydrangea. Although it’s not ivy, I’ve seen trees with trunks covered in Boston ivy.
This retail shop in Birmingham, Michigan is covered with ivy.
The Detroit Garden Works has an outside retail space running along the side of a cinder block building. The wall is covered in Boston ivy which looks amazing in the Fall.
Ivy is used to cover the top of this short brick wall enclosing this shade garden.
An ivy geranium (ok, I’m stretching the term “ivy” here) in a raised container adds the perfect focal point in this front yard garden.
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I adore ivy (as long as its not growing up walls – I have made the gardener remove all the ivy on the rendering, preferring virginia creeper, which only has hands and doesn’t bury into the walls). I was creating ivy swags for a number of years around my balconies. Until a vine weevil (and its friends) visited a couple of years ago and killed many years of patient work. Now I no longer have ivy and it makes me very sad.
I bet those ivy swags were beautiful. Darn weevils! Thanks for stopping in.
Hi, Susan – One of my all time favorites! I think ivy is wonderful and so versatile. It can climb a structure, drape over walls / containers and / or cover the ground. As you mentioned, it is also very tough.
Cheers from snowy DC,
Loi
Cheers Loi! I hope you are surviving this cold spell.