Garden Calendar
By
Gillia Hawke

FALL
Lift container-grown ivies and replant back into the ground for the winter and water thoroughly. (Southern gardeners can disregard this chore!). Cover south and west facing newly planted ivies with a floating row cover such as GardenQuilt or Reemay® to afford them constant shade and some shelter from the elements. Don't forget to take cuttings to propagate over winter in clear plastic boxes or any similar container under lights. This will give you an inexpensive supply of new ivies to plant outside early next spring. This is a good way of gardening throughout the long winter. 

WINTER
Enjoy winter walks inspecting and admiring the beautiful winter colors on your ivies. Look at the maroon colored ivies with white veins and the many variegated ivies with pink color on their leaves. Don't forget to read all your ivy books again and the Journals which always seem to have additional information that you might have missed the first time around. Fill out order blanks from the ivy catalogs and try one or two. 

SPRING
Rake off any tree leaves that have matted down on the ivy beds. Fertilize ivy beds early by broad casting any good granular fertilizer such as 12-12-12.Trim back any ivy strands that have been killed by winter's low temperatures. (We call it "natural pruning.") Start training your ivy by trimming or placing it where YOU want it to grow, either as an edger, into a circle, or up a tree or topiary form. Plant new ivies using Osmocote or other a slow release fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. Don't forget to plant the new ivy deeper than it was previously growing.

Try using ivies in containers such as window boxes and in mixed planters for that soft, trailing look. Ivies are very agreeable and do not mind being moved in the spring for container planting and back again into the ground for the winter. Always water well and mulch with stones, wood chips, purchased mulch, anything that will keep the new ivy moist.Take any ivies that you have had inside over the winter outside for the summer - they will love it!Watch for black spot on ivies and remove and destroy all leaves that you pick off.

SUMMER
Continue planting new ivies and keep any newly planted ivies watered if it turns dry in the summer months. But rejoice, you don't have to water any established ivy plants, they seem to be truly drought tolerant!!!

Enjoy ivies in different places throughout your garden. There are ivies for every single flower bed - shade or sun - even some that can be used as a single perennial that 'will never take over the world'.
 
Remember, no matter what time of the year -
Think IVY!!!