I have a new garden, small and in the shade, that I planted last year. It is surrounded by ugly chain link fencing (the neighbor's) that I would like to cover if possible, and thought that ivy would be a good way to do it. In the last year, the ivy has grown to about 6' in length and I am thinking of cutting it back and trying to make it branch to cover the fences faster. However, I have been reading about the invasive nature of English ivy and now I am afraid that I have created a monster around my little shade garden.

Should I rip all the ivy out before it becomes a real problem? My original image of the ivy covered fences framing my garden may have led me astray.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.