By the way...I'm killing my English Ivy too...HELP?!?

[kellid123]

I have English Ivy planted along my walkway which has full sun in the morning and partial to no sun in the afternoon. Even with frequent watering, these plants seem to be dying out. I thought this was a hardy ground cover plant that wouldn't seem so fragile, but I guess I'm wrong. Or what am I doing wrong? Please help...I want to trellis it, but I can't trellis a dead plant!!!!

[grandpasrose]

English Ivy generally prefers semi-shade to shade areas. It also needs quite light soil as it likes to be aerated and not have wet feet.
You may have it in too much sun, or perhaps may be overwatering it. What type of soil do you have it in? Is the soil staying wet? If so, you are giving it too much water.
I am not sure how hot it is where you are, but full sun may just be too hot for it.
VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

[kellid123]

The soil they are planted in is somewhat sandy, but I mixed some good planting soil into the bed before I planted. I mulched around the plants and this could very well be keeping me from seeing how wet they are staying. To be honest, when they started to wilt, I started watering more often, which may have been more of a problem than a solution. And I agree the sun is probably too hot. It gets pretty much direct sun in the mornings and partial to full shade in the afternoons when it is the warmest, however, it has been very warm most all day lately. Can they be transplanted easily or will that shock the plants? I really want them to survive. We really love the look of it and certainly want it to crawl the wall!

[grandpasrose]

If you have a location that would be better suited to them - ie more shade, I would probably do that as I think you may lose them where they are anyway. Do try to make sure they have very well aerated soil as well.
Good luck!
VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

[kellid123]

Thanks for the tips! I will definately take this info into consideration.

[grandpasrose]

No problem - feel free to ask any questions.
Best of Luck!
VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

[yorksaluki]

[img]https://images.snapfish.com/345%3A%3B7635%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3238%3E654%3E9%3A7%3EWSNRCG%3D323348688%3A429nu0mrj[/img]

This picture was taken the summer before last. For many years previous to this, the property had been vacant. As you can see the ivy is flourishing nicely in the picture. So we are here 2 years and each subsequent summer the ivy looks worse and worse. (lots of bare spots) However, the ivy on the left (which is obviously shadier is still doing great) Late last summer I tried to get some roots and "replant" the thin areas. Didn't seem to work. I don't think it is totally just the sun/shade issue, or it would have been dying before we moved in.
Can anyone help? Thanks.
Jennifer

[The Helpful Gardener]

Could be disease; overuse of any plant in the landscape leads to prevalence of plant specific disease, in this case Xanthomonas campestris pv. hederae, a bacterial leaf blight. Probably just too hot but look for leaf spotting...

Are you in the States or the UK? It's a federally listed invasive here...

Scott