Question From: GEORGIA
Q: Outside ivy turning yellow and dying (causing an abundace of weeds). This area is slightly downhill (as referred to drainage) and next to our house. (Area was replanted about 20 years ago, after a tornado forced us to re-landscape. what can we do to bring back our ivy and also eliminate the weeds?
A: My guess is excessive heat and lack of water is taking it's toll on your Ivy. This groundcover prefers organic rich soil so when I had it in my yard I shredded leaves in fall, dumped the leaf litter on the ground cover and brushed it in using a broom. In late fall I scattered an organic fertilizer, such as Espoma Plant Tone over the bed at half strength and brushed it in. When it did not rain for a couple of weeks I gave it a good soaking. Every few years I mowed the bed with a lawn mower set as high as possible in early spring to refresh the stand. Regular watering helped it helped it quickly releaf. If you have done none of these things your ground cover is suffering from neglect. I recommend you tear it out. Kill out the weeds, refresh the soil with some compost. Replant and use a pre emeregent such as Preen until the Ivy fills in. You may have to also do some hand weeding. Best And Happy Yardening, Nancy
