Enhance your home’s curb appeal and enrobe it in fall color by growing Boston Ivy on your home or patio.  Boston Ivy is a vine that is easy to grow, requires little maintenance, and provides lush green color in the Spring and Summer turning to vivid reddish-purple in the Fall.  It provides a unique old world vibe to celebrate the change in season, with no additional effort by you!

Aside from saving money on seasonal decorating, Boston Ivy can also be used to cover up an outdated brick façade on your home – which is much more affordable than switching out the brick itself. If you desire a little more privacy or shade on your deck or patio, Boston Ivy can also be grown in a pot and trained to spread across a deck railing, fence, or pergola, just like a screen.  Boston Ivy is very versatile and can be grown as a ground cover to provide a uniform look to a garden or wooded area or used for erosion control on a slope.

Hardiness Zone

Boston Ivy is native to Asia, Korea, Japan and eastern China, but grows well in US Zones 4-8

How to Grow

• Prefers Sun and Part Shade

• Water well until established then water periodically.  Prefers average to dry well-drained soil. 

• Vine grows best on Eastern or Northern facings walls, but grows well on Western Walls too.

• Tolerant of a wide range of soil types and urban pollution. 

• Fast growing and can climb 30 to 40 feet

• Provides berries for birds in the Fall.

• Vine grows and travels via small “sucker disks” which can easily be pulled down off wall.  May cause some speckling on painted siding or trim.  Trim back undesired growth using a scissors periodically throughout growth season (e.g. around windows, doors, roofing, etc.)         

For more information go to University of Minnesota Extension: https://trees.umn.edu/boston-ivy-parthenocissus-tricuspidata

References:

Monrovia.com

Yates.co.nz

Photo credits: Yates.co.nz (1), Doreen Wynja (2, 3), Mary Barnidge (4)