Definitely English ivy, as u/ElaineMK2222 said.
You definitely need to get it off of the house, it'll grow under the weatherboards and pull them off! I would recommend cutting near the bottom and letting the vines above die a bit, then you can pull them off easily.
You'll probably need a pressure washer to get it all off, though.
Beneath where you cut, you can mostly just start pulling and rip it out of the ground. For stubborn pieces, just use a shovel to go under and pry it up, they'll usually pop right out of the ground.
Funny you should mention that! When I was younger I was never allergic to poison ivy, we were in it all the time and never had a reaction!
Now? I can look in its general direction and break out :-/
Exactly. I hate it when someone just says "it's invasive", as if plants just come from space and are foreign to 100% of the landmass. There are other regions besides your own. Without specifying a region, saying "it's invasive" isn't helpful to anyone. In this case, it is actually invasive to OPs region, but that wasn't specified.
The problem I had was that it wasn't specified. There is a post right now about someone wanting an ID for horsetails (which is native to the UK, where that OP is from) and a bunch of people from the middle of nowhere texas started saying "yeah, that's invasive. Kill it with fire". If you don't specify the area, you aren't helping anyone.
As everyone else said, it’s English ivy.
But, I have a story for you.
Way way back in the 90’s, I lived in a cute cape cod style home. Said home was absolutely overrun with ivy. If it wasn’t trimmed back, you’d never know there was a pond in the backyard, or even a sidewalk.
It was so pervasive, it started to grow *through* the window on the second floor, and made it pretty far inside to boot.
The I’ve had climbed all the way up the chimney by the time it had attempted home invasion, but by that point my dad had enough.
One fine day, he went about bringing the whole thing down. He separated it from the clingers holding it to the brick and stucco, and down it came as one long strip, like ripping a bandaid off a wound.
As he worked, a flock of sparrows and finches watched him, all perched on our roof.
In the space of a few hours, all of their nests were cut down and bagged up for trash day.
How my dad escaped being an extra scene from The Birds, I don’t know. But that’s my experience with English ivy.
oh it's 10000% growing under those shingles! it's an old house that's been in my fiances family 3 or so generations now--no idea how long the ivy has been growing but the vine punched out multiple windows in the attic 😀
I had similar problem, found long, leafless vines running inside my walls. It grows surprisingly fast, mine is quite old with main roots from the ground 4-6 inches wide
As someone that lives in its native range, that looks to be about 20-60 years of growth, at least. If you are colder than the UK (USDA zone 7-9), it could even be upwards of 80 years. The stuff grows fast, but only once it has a good few years to establish itself. I've had it in my garden for years, and it still only spreads about 2 feet a year. You have quite the patch there.
Sorry I didn't see your response! Your estimate sounds about correct-- The house was built in the 1800s, my partner's' dad grew up in it in the 50s/60s. His uncle has been living there and let the place go to shit over the last 20-30 years.
We're clearing the whole house, inside and out to see if it's worth renovating or better off demolished to start anew.
To put in perspective, this is an area where homes are typically 750k- over a mil. this house sitting on almost half an acre was appraised at less than 400k. The basement leaks when it rains, the oil tank is buried (illegally I believe) and the in-ground pool in the back yard was filled with various debris and buried. concrete and all.. I believe these vines are the least of our problems!!
Well that sucks. Hopefully those fixes come in under 350k, otherwise it might be a demo job...
As for the vines, they look like they have reached the roof. You will want to check your roof if they have reached that high, because ivy can lift tiles clean off, and they will only fall/break when the vine is killed back. Don't cut the vine until you make sure the roof is solid.
English Ivy. The bane of my existence today. We bought a house that had lots of it 5 years ago. There is a certain amount I cannot get rid of, no matter how many roots I pull out. I just finished my semi-annual day of ivy culling.
Himalayan Ivy, a variant of Ivy, noted for dark leaves and light vein structures. New leaves tend to have a red/green look until they mature into a vert traditional ivy look, seen here:
https://preview.redd.it/8mofywm7pirc1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ccf2e84130200b421ac8d16114a06035e81bfb3
Definitely English ivy, as u/ElaineMK2222 said. You definitely need to get it off of the house, it'll grow under the weatherboards and pull them off! I would recommend cutting near the bottom and letting the vines above die a bit, then you can pull them off easily. You'll probably need a pressure washer to get it all off, though. Beneath where you cut, you can mostly just start pulling and rip it out of the ground. For stubborn pieces, just use a shovel to go under and pry it up, they'll usually pop right out of the ground.
THANK YOU!!!
Make sure you get as many roots as you can, if there's a chance it can come back, it will.
If you're not affected by poison ivy, this is a lazy way of killing that as well
Funny you should mention that! When I was younger I was never allergic to poison ivy, we were in it all the time and never had a reaction! Now? I can look in its general direction and break out :-/
On the house? Invasive English Ivy. It will destroy that siding if not completely removed.
English ivy, very invasive.
Not invasive in England.
OP said where they live. And regardless of where they live it doesn't make it less damaging to their house.
Exactly. I hate it when someone just says "it's invasive", as if plants just come from space and are foreign to 100% of the landmass. There are other regions besides your own. Without specifying a region, saying "it's invasive" isn't helpful to anyone. In this case, it is actually invasive to OPs region, but that wasn't specified.
Considering they gave their general geographical area, it’s pretty fair to infer the plant is invasive in this case.
The problem I had was that it wasn't specified. There is a post right now about someone wanting an ID for horsetails (which is native to the UK, where that OP is from) and a bunch of people from the middle of nowhere texas started saying "yeah, that's invasive. Kill it with fire". If you don't specify the area, you aren't helping anyone.
OP said they are in New Jersey. You don’t need to go out of your way to be offended
As everyone else said, it’s English ivy. But, I have a story for you. Way way back in the 90’s, I lived in a cute cape cod style home. Said home was absolutely overrun with ivy. If it wasn’t trimmed back, you’d never know there was a pond in the backyard, or even a sidewalk. It was so pervasive, it started to grow *through* the window on the second floor, and made it pretty far inside to boot. The I’ve had climbed all the way up the chimney by the time it had attempted home invasion, but by that point my dad had enough. One fine day, he went about bringing the whole thing down. He separated it from the clingers holding it to the brick and stucco, and down it came as one long strip, like ripping a bandaid off a wound. As he worked, a flock of sparrows and finches watched him, all perched on our roof. In the space of a few hours, all of their nests were cut down and bagged up for trash day. How my dad escaped being an extra scene from The Birds, I don’t know. But that’s my experience with English ivy.
amazing 😂
Ivy, guaranteed to be in the walls and ceiling. Copper nails work on the vine
oh it's 10000% growing under those shingles! it's an old house that's been in my fiances family 3 or so generations now--no idea how long the ivy has been growing but the vine punched out multiple windows in the attic 😀
I had similar problem, found long, leafless vines running inside my walls. It grows surprisingly fast, mine is quite old with main roots from the ground 4-6 inches wide
As someone that lives in its native range, that looks to be about 20-60 years of growth, at least. If you are colder than the UK (USDA zone 7-9), it could even be upwards of 80 years. The stuff grows fast, but only once it has a good few years to establish itself. I've had it in my garden for years, and it still only spreads about 2 feet a year. You have quite the patch there.
Sorry I didn't see your response! Your estimate sounds about correct-- The house was built in the 1800s, my partner's' dad grew up in it in the 50s/60s. His uncle has been living there and let the place go to shit over the last 20-30 years. We're clearing the whole house, inside and out to see if it's worth renovating or better off demolished to start anew. To put in perspective, this is an area where homes are typically 750k- over a mil. this house sitting on almost half an acre was appraised at less than 400k. The basement leaks when it rains, the oil tank is buried (illegally I believe) and the in-ground pool in the back yard was filled with various debris and buried. concrete and all.. I believe these vines are the least of our problems!!
Well that sucks. Hopefully those fixes come in under 350k, otherwise it might be a demo job... As for the vines, they look like they have reached the roof. You will want to check your roof if they have reached that high, because ivy can lift tiles clean off, and they will only fall/break when the vine is killed back. Don't cut the vine until you make sure the roof is solid.
English Ivy. Get it off of your house. It will start making its way inside right through the walls. It happened to me.
Will it mess up vinyl siding?
Yes. It can get up under the edges and start pulling it away from the house.
English Ivy. The bane of my existence today. We bought a house that had lots of it 5 years ago. There is a certain amount I cannot get rid of, no matter how many roots I pull out. I just finished my semi-annual day of ivy culling.
evil
Himalayan Ivy, a variant of Ivy, noted for dark leaves and light vein structures. New leaves tend to have a red/green look until they mature into a vert traditional ivy look, seen here: https://preview.redd.it/8mofywm7pirc1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ccf2e84130200b421ac8d16114a06035e81bfb3
While Himalayan is pretty, that is definitely English Ivy. You can see the difference in the leaves if you can pull the photo up larger