Question
The Boston Ivy on an entire two-story brick wall of our home, looks and acts awful.  It's been there for 19 years and approx. five years ago the leaves started turning yellow and then dropping.  The leaves are beautiful until June, then this messy stuff begins and by Fall, I can no longer keep up with picking leaves out of my garden.  I suspect some kind of fungal thing, but the thought of spraying a whole two-story sounds insane (this was recommended by a nut at the garden center).  I thought of pulling it off almost to the ground in the Fall, but of course it never happened.  Would you suggest doing this in the Spring?  Is it going to die?  I dread having to see my husband up on a 30 foot ladder with the power washer.  Sorry this is so long . . . Oh, we live in the Chicago area and the wall is on the north side of the house.

Thank you!

Carole Westgaard

Answer
Several things you may need to know about Boston Ivy-- It has the potential to damage masonry walls and buildings due to its adhesive disks that cling to structures. The plant will cover windows and doors when given free rein. Clinging vines, like Boston ivy, climb by attaching small rootlike holdfasts to walls, trees or other rough-textured surfaces. Clinging vines can be used on either brick or masonry walls but should never be used on the walls of frame buildings. They can damage the wood. There is some maintenance required with Boston Ivy -- once a year you must trim it back to keep it away from your roof, soffit, eavestrough, trim and window frames. It's easy to do as it easily pulls away from the brick surface. Fertilize vines in late February or early March. Use a rose-' type fertilizer to feed deciduous vines and a rhododendron-type fertilizer to feed evergreen vines.