Welcome to Hollin Hills

ALTERNATIVES TO ENGLISH IVY

By Mary Ann Lawler (Thanks to all VNPS members who contributed to this article!) 

What can we recommend to replace English ivy? For many, many years homeowners in Northern Virginia have used Hedera helix in areas with landscaping challenges like dense shade or shady slopes. And over time, instead of solving a problem, the ivy has created new problems, as it climbed up and choked trees; it spread to parks and other natural areas, where it destroyed the native vegetation in its path; and it formed perfect hiding places for urban rats. Fortunately, many homeowners are now looking for alternatives to the ivy.

The answer to what best replaces English ivy, as with many such questions, is “It depends.” The answer is not simple; it does depend on the location of the lot and goals of the property owners. Do they want to re-create a natural woodland? Are they trying to prevent erosion in one spot? Do they want their entire back yard to be a low maintenance garden with no grass? Do they want the area open or dense? Do they merely want to put in a little groundcover, which can withstand shade under a tree? Here are some ideas.

Groundcovers. For smaller shady areas where a groundcover is desired, several choices of native plants are available:

Evergreen or semi-evergreen for shade:

-Creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) mats together to make a spectacular display of blue/violet in early spring and stays low and green throughout the rest of the year. Although it’s small, it spreads rapidly to make a carpet.

-Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is recommended by Carol Shuh, who says “It hugs the ground and is pretty much evergreen around here.”  It also creates lovely displays of yellow flowers in spring that last into May.

-Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) is an excellent groundcover for shade.

-Golden ragwort (Senecio aureaus) is evergreen and forms thick mats. In early spring it will send up tall stalks of yellow flowers, which pollinators love. When the spent flowers begin to look raggedy, either leave the seeds for the goldfinches, or cut them down to the leafy bases, where they cover the ground. Plant these where they have plenty of room to spread.

-Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), recommended by Steve Young, is another evergreen, which hugs the ground. Chipmunks, birds, and squirrels eat its berries.

-Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) has lovely little spikes of white flower in May and the foliage lasts all year long.

Evergreen for semi-shade:

-Robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus), recommended by Barbara and Laura Farron, is a pale violet composite with a basal rosette. It blooms in spring and is very attractive to insects for its nectar. Laura Beaty says that she walks on hers and does no harm to it.

-Common Speedwell (Veronica officinalis), is another Farron recommendation.

-Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) is very low growing and dense with sprigs of pale green “toes.”

-Mouse-eared coreopsis (Coreopsis auriculata) is recommended by JoAnn Krumvide. Butterflies and bees love it.

-Wild stone crop (Sedum ternatum), a succulent, will work with some sun.

-Sedges. Laura Beaty reminds us not to forget sedges, which form attractive clumps and colonize. She recommends Plantain-leafed sedge (Carex plantaginea), colonial oak sedge (Carex communis), and especially white bear sedge (Carex albursina).

 Deciduous for shade:

-Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is a lovely deep green and spreads, but it dies back after the first frost. It needs lots of shade.

-Violets (Viola canadense and other species) are not evergreen, but they provide nectar in early spring and are hosts to several butterfly larvae. Ants will spread the seed around. And the violets help hold the soil.

Vines

-Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquifolia) was recommended by Gilah Goldsmith and several others. Gilah says that it volunteered in her yard after she successfully eradicated the English ivy.  It's taller and less dense, but she says it looks beautiful under the trees. It is aggressive, so be sure to put it in a place that you don’t mind it spreading, Virginia creeper will grow up trees without harming them because it is deciduous, and birds love the berries. Its maroon and scarlet hues in fall are spectacular.

-Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) and native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) vines are Beth Smith’s recommendations. They are not invasive, and they are all great for pollinators, such as hummingbirds. The red berries of the native honeysuckle feed birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.

Herbaceous plants. The following are plants that spread on their own to cover a shady/semi-shady area where there was once ivy:

-Virginia knotweed (Tovara virginiana/Persicaria virginiana) worked out well in Sally Sieracki’s wooded backyard--it has completely filled a large space in a couple of years and looks very nice in a “shaggy, woodsy way” she says. She has both the straight species and the ‘Painter’s Palette’ cultivar.   What is special about this knotweed, is that cardinals love the seed.

-White wood aster (Aster divericatus) will take over a shady area and provide nectar for pollinators in fall. Cut the spent blooms back and enjoy its semi-evergreen leaves.

-Heart-leafed aster (Aster cordifolia) is similar to white wood aster, but with pale blue flowers

-Lobelia species (Lobelia cardinalis, Lobelia siphilitica) have basil rosettes that will spread. They even take sun in areas that stay moist.

-Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) is very attractive to insects in fall.

-Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) in both the white and pink form will spread in moister soils, and the hummingbirds and bumblebees love its nectar.

Ferns. For an attractive, taller groundcover, Barbara Farron recommends certain ferns that spread if the area is reasonably moist: hay-scented, New York, sensitive and lady ferns. Christmas fern is an evergreen alternative that will not spread and will grow on slopes.

A natural woodland. If a property has tall trees and is near a wooded natural area, a homeowner may want to consider letting the backyard blend in with the woodland. In that case, after pulling out the ivy one could leave things alone and let nature do the work. Seeds may be lying dormant under that ivy. Marianne Mooney (Potowmack Chapter President) pulled English ivy (Hedera helix) recently from around the edges of a demonstration garden in Bon Air Park. She discovered some Solomon’s seal (Polygonium pendatum) growing up from the middle of the vines. Several feet away under a huge holly, numerous jack-in the pulpit (Arisaemia triloba) had sprung up where ivy had been pulled out last year. These recoveries reinforces Stan Shetler’s view that the best way to restore an area that had been infested with invasives is most often to leave it alone and see what grows back naturally from the seed bank.

Louis Nichols pulled up ivy in his backyard and was rewarded with bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and dogtooth violet (Erythronium americanum). Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) and mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) could show up in our area.

A planted woodland. Paul Kovenok’s backyard was featured on the garden tour last year. After removing “tons of matted English ivy,” on his shade to part-shade slope with many native trees, he used some of the native groundcovers listed above: green and gold, ginger, phlox, pachysandra and foamflower (which, incidentally are listed in a brochure offered by Behnke’s Nursery in Maryland as alternatives to English ivy). Then, he filled his woodland with other natives including several species of ferns, Virginia bluebells, bloodroot, Jacobs ladder, Canada violet, jack-in the pulpit, wood poppy, wild blue phlox, golden ragwort, wild bleeding heart, wild geranium, wild columbine, solomon’s seal, may apple, false solomon’s seal, black snakeroot, white wood aster, turtlehead, Canada anemone, alumroot, rue anemone, goatsbeard and more.

An alternative to planting many smaller plants is to recreate a woodland understory with small native trees and shrubs. Ideally, those trees and shrubs, which would have occurred naturally in the original ecosystem, would be planted.

Preventing erosion. At the recent Invasive Species conference in Philadelphia, Cole Burrell encouraged the use of many species in concert to prevent erosion. He recommends fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), colony-forming native honeysuckle shrubs (Diervilla spp), and red and black chokeberries (Aronia spp.). The latter have a wide range of tolerances.

According to the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF), one of the best ways to prevent erosion on a steep slope is to plant trees. The network of roots holds the soil better than anything else. For recommendations on species of trees to plant particularly along a stream, see the plant guide for riparian reforestration, compiled by VDOF: www.vdof.org/rfb/riparian/rwg/genbuff/smallt.pdf.

This list shows light requirements and planting zones from flood plains to upper slopes. It also recommends small tree and shrub species, which may work well where there are overhanging wires. Tree seedlings are available from VDOF and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District.

On a slope with some sun, other recommendations include sumac (Rhus spp.) and coral berry (Symphoricarpus orbiculata), which grow fast and spread, interspersed with tree seedlings. River oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) would work in a shadier area.

Where to begin? We recommend that people start out doing a little at a time. They can pull the ivy out from under a couple of trees and connect the trees with an island of leaf mulch no more than two inches thick. Then they should either leave the island alone to see what natives come up, or plant native shrubs or herbaceaous native plants in the island.

Over time, by removing the ivy and establishing beds such as these or by letting nature take its course, homeowners could turn their entire backyards into more natural areas with narrow paths made of wood chips. They will marvel at the diversity of birds, butterflies, bees, beneficial insects, rabbits, toads, spiders, shrews, snakes, possums, foxes, and chipmunks as they begin to gather. Compare that view with the bleak landscape of English ivy!