Hedera helix (English Ivy)

The English Ivy (Hedera helix) produces masses of fine roots along its shoots that allow it to adhere to surfaces and climb from shady ground level locations up into trees (walls or anything else it can attach to) to get more light. It also changes shoot characteristics from infertile vegetative growth to fertile (flowering and fruiting) shoots. In this way, the berries are also higher up in the air and more readily available for birds to eat and disperse the seed.

This is the reason that the English Ivy has become such a bad weed in the Dandenong Ranges and other moist areas around the state, where the plants thrive in the growing conditions. The ivy quickly spreads and smothers other native plants that would normally form the under-storey of the forests.

To kill the ivy, go around the trunk and cut out a 30 cm wide belt of all the shoots that are connecting the ground-covering shoots to the sections that are climbing up the tree. All the upper sections will eventually die due to lack of water but they will remain attached to the trunk for a number of years (they will slowly rot and fall off the trunk).

Hedging plants

• Australian plants suitable for hedging include:
• Acacia acinacea, A. howittii
• Atriplex nummularia
• Backhousia citriodora
• Banksia ericifolia
• Callistemon (many varieties available)
• Correa baeuerlenii
• Grevillea (many species and varieties)
• Leptospermum (some species only)
• Melaleuca (some species only)
• Philotheca myoporoides
• Syzygium (many different cultivars available)
• Westringia dampierii

Home Garden - Planter box

These are standard corrugated water tanks which have been cut in half. The tops have been turned over to create a safe finish.