Many of us use ivy in Christmas decorations, but this striking evergreen gives us all-year-round pleasure, helps insulate our houses and plays a vital role for our garden birds and wildlife generally.
Common ivy, Hedera helix, grows widely throughout Scotland and many other places. It’s pretty ubiquitous and though experts advise it prefers neutral soil and moist, shady ground, it also copes with more acidic conditions and happily romps over sunny dykes and buildings. What makes ivy such a valuable plant?
In Scotland we love ivy because it’s one of our few native evergreens. When colour is in short supply, it adds sparkle to otherwise dull north European winter gardens. And after the autumn leaf drop, it becomes much more important as shelter for birds and other wildlife.
Check out a patch of ivy that hasn’t been severely pruned, but left to bush out naturally. Tease apart the outer stems and you’ll discover a mass of little cavities. The plant has created a network of little ‘rooms and corridors’ for small birds. This gives them protection from larger predators and keeps them dry, hidden away from howling gales and driving winter snow and rain.
It’s been estimated that spiders and around 140 different species of insects, including flies, butterflies and caterpillars, also enjoy this cover throughout the year. They, in turn, provide tasty meals for the 17 species of birds you could find there.
Ivy provides natural insulation for house walls. In summer, it can keep walls up to ℃ cooler and both side of walls will be 5% drier. The winter insulation keeps our increasingly expensive warmth indoors. It’s also a myth that ivy damages a sound wall. But it’s root tendrils will penetrate any crumbly old masonry on an outhouse.
As a general rule, Common ivy thrives where little else will prosper. The lower section of our wooden garden fence leads down towards the burn and the louring shade of an old elm. Now enveloped in ivy, the dull wooden structure is transformed and the ivy has formed a living carpet down to the burn and stoutly scales the tree.
And this undisturbed area also benefits wildlife: birds and small mammals appreciate the security of added secrecy. This is especially the case with early nesting blackbirds and robins.
Ivy flowers and leaves are a valuable food source. Until recently my ivy flower buds seldom opened, but thanks to our recent warmer autumns, I’m now able to enjoy its delightful little flower globes, prominently protruding from the foliage. With more insects still on the go, there’s a welcome source of rich nectar. Even in late November, lots of little flies flit and dart around the flowers and foliage.
Hopefully, I’ll enjoy sprays of little black berries at the end of winter, yet another vital food source when there’s precious little else. But I don’t expect to be using the berries for dyeing, as our ancestors reputedly did.
And I’ll not be following my Border predecessors by applying powdered leaves to cure ringworm or preparing a concoction of ivy leaves and vinegar to cure corns. Such remedies were widespread as a recipe recorded in South Uist in 1933 shows.
Hungry deer also graze on ivy leaves in the depths of winter, acting just like goats in the well-known Gaelic saying: “Sickness only would prevent goats from eating ivy”. I prefer seeing deer doing this at the bottom of the garden to stripping my kale plants, as they once did while we were away. Yes, kale is nutritious but ivy leaves, though toxic for humans, also contain antioxidants and their valuable fatty saponins may help the deers’ digestion.
Plant of the week
Hedera helix ‘Glacier’ is a most attractive ivy with small grey-green leaves variegated with silver and cream. Growing to at least 2 metres it can be used on a wall or as ground cover.
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