Valued in folklore, mythology and symbolism – even today there is a custom for bridal bouquets to contain a sprig of ivy, a symbol of fidelity. But it’s also a priceless addition to a garden. If you wish to welcome wildlife into your garden, I couldn’t recommend a better plant to make space for.
Through autumn and winter, ivy’s flowers and berries become a lifeline for insects and birds when many other food sources disappear. In fact a recent eight-year study, the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, revealed that ivy is the most popular flower with pollinating insects and over 50 species of insect are attracted to our native ivy Hedera helix.
Ivy has glossy green-lobed leaves and clingy stems when young that turn to oval leaves and self-supporting stems when mature. It’ll climb up trees and walls and weave through hedges.
Old thinking was that ivy strangles the life out of a tree and you will often see cut ivy stems on a mature tree from a well-intentioned but mis-informed tree liberator. Current thinking debunks this practice. The ivy can provide a valuable habitat for nesting birds and roosting bats along with being a valuable food source for wildlife and does no harm to the tree apart from making it more vulnerable to wind damage.
Research by English Heritage has shown that in some cases ivy can help preserve stonework on old buildings. I grew a wall of ivy along a wooden slatted fence and on top of a peg-tiled woodshed. The fence is now over 20 years old and still in fine condition. The ivy does like to try and get between the slats and open them out so some management is required but much less than a normal hedge. The shed-top ivy forms a great green topping that hasn’t disturbed the tiles.
At the moment our ivy is alive with buzzing insects, hoverflies, wasps, hornets and other blowflies. In the summer evenings Pipistrelle bats patrol up and down it. Blackbird and Thrushes nest in it. We have a pond but ivy is our greatest wildlife asset.
Ian, Wild Groombridge
