Stripped naked to its bare essentials. Last year I posted about the fig ivy growing on the walls of my home and how each spring I would cut it back down a third of the way and considerably thin it out creating a lacy look. This spring, drastic repair was required after our brutal winter had frozen and burned most of the foliage. Plus the ivy’s main stems had become too thick. It was time to start over. Well, sort of.
note about above photo: Once the camellia bush finishes blooming, I will wedge the ladder in to remove the dead stems on the left portion of the stone gable, but I’m too much of a fraidy cat to climb higher up the chimney stack. At fourteen feet, I call it quits.
Except for two angled stems on the stone chimney stack, the fig ivy has been cut down to about six inches above grade. The root systems are well established, so I’m pretty sure that by August the ivy will have again climbed the walls. This butchery was necessary in order to control the ivy, and hopefully, it will be better behaved this summer.
I always dread having to brutalize the vegetation but this is a great example how it does rejuvenate and how sometimes a hard prune is a good thing!
Leslie, it’s too soon to tell if the fig ivy will rebound after this severe cutback. Keep your fingers crossed!