Question
Hi LI Gardener.  I have a "natural" landscaping, beds of pachysandra and ivy beneath tall trees.  The unprecedented Valentine's Day ice storm froze and browned all the ivy (large-leaf, not english).  The damage was exacerbated when the tree surgeons drove their truck over the ivy beds to clear the damaged tree-crowns.  The Ivy bed is now brown and a little crushed.  How do I best encourage it to return?  It's a large bed, maybe 50' x 35', irregular.

Thanks! John (Monmouth County, NJ).


Answer
Oh boy John.  I feel your pain.

Don't you hate it when someone pours salt on the wound?

Your poor, poor Ivy.

Any idea which Hedera you are cultivating under that tree?  See this portfolio at the American Ivy Society -- http://www.ivy.org/list.html)and http://www.ivy.org/clas.html -- just so you can name it next time.  H. helix? H. canariensis? H. colchica? Sometimes it matters.

I honestly do not believe that the winter burn inflicted on your Ivy is going to make one bit of difference a year from now.

In case you haven't noticed, this plant has nerves of steel.  In fact, its invasive disposition has earned it a place on the State of Oregon's list of prohibited plants.  You can't buy it, and you can't sell it there.  Because it is SO tough.

It could definitely use a makeover.  I agree with you there.  Which would entail the use of a scissors and close cropping to remove the most badly damaged leaves.

Just the usual TLC will take care of all your Ivy problems.  Watering, maybe a bit of fertilizer -- you just know the State of Oregon would freak out if they heard this one -- with some Nitrogen, preferably an Organic type like Blood Meal or Alfalfa, will perk up the leaves and roots, and build it up until it's its old, green, invasive self.

Of course if someone is going to be driving trucks over it every time you get ice and snow, you have a problem.  Even Ivy needs a recovery period.

Other than that, your Ivy will be on autopilot the rest of the year.  Trust me, if the treehuggers can be stopped before they drive the trucks across the Ivy plot, it will be like they were never there.  Maybe even better.