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07.08.2023 - 11:41 / blog.fantasticgardeners.co.uk
Hedera, which we commonly refer to as English Ivy (pl. Ivies), is a family of around 20 species of evergreen perennial plants. Depending on their surroundings, these woody plants can be both ground creeping or climbing nearby trees, rocks, buildings, and pretty much anything they can lay their stems on.
Given a solid base, the ivy has the ability to crawl up and reach heights of more that 30m. On ground level it rarely exceeds ½ feet in height. As gorgeous as this chef-d’œuvre of nature is, it can still cause mischief around your property if left unattended. It’s considered an invasive plant after all, meaning it’ll not knock on your door to ask if it’d be OK to crash in your yard for the night.
So here’s our handy guide on how to get rid of common ivy.
Now that you think of it, the ivy is quite the troublemaker. In addition to being an invasive plant which could potentially attach to and damage your property, it is also harmful to children and pets, causing allergic skin reactions from a mere touch, or vomiting if ingested.
The creeping and climbing habits of English Ivy pose a great menace to flowers and trees in your garden, stealing their essential nutrients and water. Its foliage blocks valuable sunlight from reaching other plants, and also creates shelter for mice, rats and insects. Ivy’s berries can also attract wildlife, mostly birds, bats, butterflies, moths, bees, and wasps.
Nature is unique and it finds extraordinary methods to survive. One of them is for certain species to imitate a dangerous and poisonous lookalike. Poison ivy’s cousins don’t make an exception – there are, in fact, dozens of impostors. Some of the lookalikes are harmless, but others – such as poison sumac or poison oak, can cause even more pain
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Gardening for some provides the daily bread, for others, it’s an escape from reality and for you, it might be your favourite hobby. Nevertheless, a garden decorated to your own preferences will act as a source of inspiration and will provide you a place to gather up your thoughts.
A butterfly garden (or butterfly habitat) is a place dedicated for butterflies to feed and hydrate. It also helps butterflies find shelter, as many of their natural habitats are being lost due to human activities and urbanisation.
In their original environments, invasive plants are restrained by their natural adversaries, with whom they co-evolved. However, when they are introduced to a new environment without these natural enemies, some plants can flourish and spread uncontrollably, ultimately becoming invasive.
Have you ever wondered which flower best reflects your personality? Fantastic Gardeners just made a quiz which aims to define exactly your inner soul flower, based on your answers in a quest-like scenario. Let’s dig deep into psychology!
Outdoor Christmas decorations are key in creating a cheerful and festive ambience during the holiday season. Whether you’re going all out, making your house and garden the envy of the street with elaborate light designs and displays, or you just want to welcome your guests with a simple hand-made wreath and some soft candle glow, we offer you suggestions on how to decorate a garden for Christmas to lift spirits and make warm memories during the cold days and nights.
What brings the biggest joy to a person is seeing they helped someone be happy, too. In Fantastic Gardeners’ case, it was the creation of a spot for the children of the Acol Nursery school to play, explore and feel more homely. In our previous session we set the stage for the stars of the show to appear – it was already March and it was high time for flowers to march forward.
Yes, we’re talking about mint! The breath-saving, tummy-taming, taste-boosting mint. At Fantastic Gardeners, we love this refreshing plant, and why wouldn’t we? It is fragrant, easy to grow, and has many beneficial uses in culinary arts, medicine, and cosmetics.
With spring coming to its peak, we at Fantastic Gardeners decided to take a look back at the beginning of this jolly and fresh season and at one recent good deed. The Acol Nursery in London reached out to us back in February with the little asking to help them get their outdoor gardens in order.
If you’re anything like us, then you love your dog and want to include them in as many of your daily activities as possible. Every dog owner has experienced the joy, frustration, and laughter caused by our four-legged friends who decide to help us complete a task and, in most cases, create even more chaos as a result.
Most of the time, overgrown or sick trees are simply a nuisance, an eyesore in your otherwise impeccable garden. Sometimes, however, they can also mean trouble and your best course of action will often be to contact a specialist.
With the massive industrialisation, intensive agriculture, and expansion of urban areas that has occurred in the UK since the 1950’s, we have lost 96% of the wild meadows which once dotted the landscape.