Boston Ivy for a stylish view

Ivy adds a stylish feel to any garden. Boston Ivy and its varieties are a hardy plant that can green a variety of areas to add to your landscape design.

If you lead a busy lifestyle or want instant results with little or no maintenance, consider lifelike artificial ivy varieties to add nature to your home.

Ivy plant care outdoors

Before you plant Boston Ivy or any other ivy plant outside, it is best to understand what the plant needs to ensure that you get the best results. Take into consideration:

1. Location

When considering where to plant your ivy think about the sunlight that the area receives. The needs of the plant vary depending on the variety. Most ivy plants don’t need a great deal of sunlight and are very happy growing in partial or full shade. However, some do enjoy and thrive in full sunlight:
· Boston ivy
· Persian ivy
· Japanese ivy

Shade preferring ivy includes:
· English ivy
· Algerian ivy

2. Temperature

Ivy grows in both hot and cold temperatures, in the cold, it just grows more slowly. Colder temperatures help to stop ivy becoming an invasive weed. Make sure that you trim the edges 2-3 times per year to ensure that it stays within the area you have designated and doesn’t wander into other parts of the garden.

3. Soil

To improve the nutrition of the soil where you plant your ivy, mix garden loam, sand, lime, peat moss and bone meal together, and add to the soil. Ivy thrives when it has the right amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus so if you want to add fertiliser, look for one that has these minerals.

4. Water

Ivy doesn’t need constant watering. Instead, soak the roots with water and don’t water again until the soil has almost dried out. How often you need to do this will depend on the time of year, climate and the sun exposure.

Modern garden screen ideas

Do you have unattractive areas in your garden that you want to disguise with greenery but your plants are taking way too long to grow? Outdoor screens may just be the answer for you. They instantly hide outdoor appliances like hot water services, add depth to blank areas and give you and your family additional privacy to help you relax and unwind. They are super easy to install, and provide dense green coverage.

To get you started, here are some of our favourite modern garden screen ideas:

1. Opaque

They give you privacy by blocking the view yet allow natural light to pass through to the area. Add some hanging or climbing greenery to highlight the area.

2. Hedges

Dense evergreen hedges grant you privacy while having a cooling effect on your space. They have the added advantage of reducing noise when you use plants like the green juniper and cherry laurel. If you prefer a hedge that also allows light through, use silver sheen or fern pine.

3. Slatted

Consider using slatted screens to add a more modern feel to your home. With a roof component, slatted screens create a structure similar to a traditional pergola, and provide privacy while allowing airflow.

4. Metal

Using a laser cut metal screen gives you an opportunity to add a personal touch to the design. They are perfect for screening a spa, hiding your hot water service or creating a serene garden space for family relaxation.

5. Lattice

Premade wood lattice is an inexpensive way of adding screening to your yard with airflow. Increase the privacy of a lattice screen with fragrant, climbing plants.

Where to install ivy outdoors?

Ivy screens, especially low maintenance artificial Boston Ivy are a quick and easy way to:

· Add greenery to walls where nothing else will grow – for example cramped, low light and awkward spaces
· Turn your apartment balcony into a private space by adding green wall panels to the railing – especially when the view is drab and boring.
· Hide ugly infrastructure.
· Revamp tired brick/concrete/wooden fences.
· Stop prying eyes seeing into your backyard when you use ivy screens for additional privacy around pool and spa areas.
· Create garden rooms for reading, yoga and personal relaxation.

How to make an Ivy screen

Ivy screens are an effective and beautiful way of brightening up a blank wall and creating a green view. See how Deborah Hutton transformed an ugly external wall into a featured area with a faux ivy wall.

Deborah reasons that by using artificial panels, she has the wall instantly covered, whereas if she planted ivy there, it would take years to grow to the size that she needed to cover the space.

Consider using artificial ivy screens to green unsightly areas around your home; they look stunning as soon as they are installed and need very little ongoing maintenance.