Hedera not Tilsley

I have lots of ivy in my garden.  More than lots, I actually have too much.  I don't like it very much either, I find it rather dark and foreboding and I worry about how it smothers some of my trees.  I have tried to remove it from the trees but they are so smothered it is currently a thankless task.
It is not totally dreadful though, as even as I write that I don't like it, I start correcting myself as I do love how it teams with wildlife particularly in Autumn when it seems to attract every wasp in the district.  Does this mean I like wasps?  No, I am terrified of them, I always have been, but if they are on the ivy they are not on me and that is good in my world.
I also rather like its name, Hedera helix, it has a nice rhythm to it.  Ivy itself just reminds me of Ivy Tilsley, but I don't think I have met anyone really called Ivy, I think it is not a name very much in fashion these days but it might make a come back I suppose.


But what has made me think of ivy recently has been wandering around the church yard at Calke Abbey on a blowy December day.  My eyes landed on the edge of this tomb and I just thought how wonderful ivy could be in how it drapes and winds around, reclaiming all that stands in its way and coating it with green.
I might not have been quite so appreciative had it been climbing up the side of my house.........

Comments

  1. Liked you ivy thoughts today. I too have lots of it here but so far it is under control! JC

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  2. I have long since lost track of the number of trugs full of ivy that I have yanked out from the beds in this garden, it was running rampant everywhere when we moved here, I hate it when it chokes beds and smothers perennials, and it can be so destructive when it gets its grip on to crumbling mortar but I do love it clambering over a fence, particularly when it is mature and flowering.

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  3. I love it and look after it on the side of our house. The house is a mixture of old and new, which look odd together, but, covered in ivy, that vanishes. It keeps the walls warm and dry, and we cut it annually, like a hedge, to keep it under control.

    I love watching pouring rain run off the leaves, knowing the wall underneath is dry. Wish more people would disguise their country houses with it. Large white houses in the countryside do dominate the landscape. I agree with Wordsworth that they can be an eyesore. Ivy to the rescue...

    O - and if you sever the main stem going up a tree trunk, you'll kill all above it.

    Xxxx

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  4. I have lots of ivy too. It can look very nice on difficult spots in the garden, but I am always a bit wary. I have to keep it in hand otherwise I get visions of Sleeping Beauty between ivy.

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