OrnamentalclimberStraightforward

Ivy

Hedera helix

The most useful and most maligned plant in a British garden. It is evergreen, self-clinging, grows in the deepest dry shade nothing else will touch, and its late autumn flowers and winter berries feed insects and birds at the two points in the year when almost nothing else is available.

Position: Full shade or Dappled shade or Partial shade or Full sun
Water: low demand
Drainage: Moisture-retentive, Free-draining
Grows to: 600–1200 cm × 300–500 cm
Hardiness: H6
Harvest: January to March
Difficulty: Straightforward

Described view

Juvenile lobed climbing ivy leaves beside the unlobed adult foliage of a flowering shoot with its green flower umbels

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Coming next month: plant, in flower.

Ivy’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	A	S	O	N
Plant			March.	April.	September.	October.
In flower					September.	October.	November.
Harvest	January.	February.	March.
Prune			March.	April.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Full shade, Dappled shade, Partial shade, Full sun
Frost: Very hardy
Hardiness rating: H6 (RHS)
Grows best at: 5–25 °C
Soil: Loam, Clay, Chalky, Sandy
Soil pH: 5.5–8
Drainage: Moisture-retentive, Free-draining
Water needs: low
Drought: good tolerance
Waterlogging: moderate tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: good tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Hedera helix — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

One of the few climbers that copes with dry shade.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Ivy will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Prefers this soil	Sandy suits Ivy as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkaline	Prefers this soil	Chalky and alkaline suits Ivy as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Chalky soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Ivy as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits Ivy as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Ivy will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Prefers this soil	Shallow over rock suits Ivy as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Ivy will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 600–1200 cm
Mature spread: 300–500 cm
Rooting depth: 50 cm
Spacing: 100–200 cm apart

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Ivy — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13

Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Foliage: Evergreen
In a container: Good in a container long-term

Where these figures come from

FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

How it climbs: Self-clinging — needs no support structure
Vigour: Vigorous — needs a substantial support and annual attention

Where these figures come from

How it climbsSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — support
Checked 2026-08-13
VigourSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13

Support it needs. None. It grips a wall, fence or tree trunk directly with adventitious rootlets, and a trellis put up for it is wasted money.

Effect on what it grows over. On sound masonry in good pointing ivy does not cause structural damage, and there is reasonable evidence it buffers the wall against temperature swings and driving rain. On failing render or perished mortar it exploits and enlarges defects that were already there. The real damage is in gutters, under roof tiles and around window frames rather than on the wall face. In a tree it is not parasitic and takes nothing from the host, but heavy mature growth adds windage to the crown, which matters on an old or unstable specimen.

source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Value to wildlife

Recorded only where the evidence names a resource and the months it is available. Most plants flower; that on its own is not what this section is about.

Nectar: A significant source
Pollen: A significant source
Berries for birds: A significant source
In flower: Sep, Oct, Nov
In fruit: Jan, Feb, Mar

Where these figures come from

NectarSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — value to pollinators
Checked 2026-08-13
PollenSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — value to pollinators
Checked 2026-08-13
Berries for birdsSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — fruit and birds
Checked 2026-08-13

Shelter. Dense evergreen cover used heavily for nesting and for overwintering insects, including hibernating butterflies.

source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

What keeping this costs

Ivy only flowers once it makes adult growth at the top of its climb, so a plant cut back hard every year never reaches that stage and feeds nothing. Its flowers are among the last nectar of the year and its berries ripen when bird food is scarcest — the two moments a garden is least able to supply. Let some of it get old.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Open ground	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Traditional dug bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Raised bed	Workable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Workable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

TrainingIvy climbs by adventitious rootlets that grip a surface directly, so it needs no trellis, wires or ties of any kind. On a sound wall in good pointing it does no structural damage and there is reasonable evidence it moderates temperature and damp at the wall face. On failing render or perished mortar it will exploit and enlarge existing defects, and it should be kept off a wall that is already in poor condition.
PruningCut it back hard in early spring and keep it out of gutters, off roof tiles and away from window frames — those are where it genuinely causes damage, rather than on the wall itself. In a tree it is not a parasite and takes nothing from the host, but a heavy mature growth adds windage to the crown, which matters on an old or unstable specimen.

Where this guidance comes from

TrainingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera — walls and buildings
Checked 2026-08-13
PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera — pruning
Checked 2026-08-13

The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogsUsually a short upset stomach

Listed as harmful to cats or dogs

Ivy is listed as harmful if eaten. The leaves and berries contain triterpenoid saponins and falcarinol. Eating them causes drooling, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea; the berries are worse than the leaves. The same falcarinol makes the sap a recognised cause of contact dermatitis in people who clear it in quantity, so the plant is a hazard in two independent ways.

source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Hedera helix — toxic plants list

Checked 2026-08-13

Affected parts: berry, leaf, sap.

Contact hazardsensitised individualspets
The sap contains falcarinol and related compounds and is a recognised cause of contact dermatitis in people who handle it repeatedly — hedge-cutting and clearance work rather than occasional contact. The berries cause stomach upset if eaten.
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Hedera helix — sap
Checked 2026-08-13
Wear gloves and long sleeves when clearing it in quantity, and wash exposed skin afterwards. Keep berried growth out of reach of a dog that eats things.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.