Q: This aggressive ivy look-alike has covered up English ivy and everything in its path while making stubborn mounds several feet high!

A: It’s what experts call the “mature” form of English ivy, as contrasted with the “juvenile” phase we all recognize.

The mature form typically has few, if any, leaf lobes while the juvenile form typically has three lobes.

It takes several years of growth for ivy to become mature. It usually does so when it reaches the top of a tree or wall and begins to grow horizontally. The white Sputnik-type things above the foliage are flowers. They will be followed by blue-black berries which birds will eat and deposit far and wide.

Control is the same as for “regular” English ivy: spray with glyphosate (click for sources) or triclopyr (click for sources) at four week intervals until control is achieved.