The Ivy Patch

Way back in September of 1958, the folks, sisters Lela and Blanche and myself moved to South Corey Street in a small Midwest town. We left the small house in the country for a big two story home with an open air front porch and a porch swing.  There was a patch of soil  between the porch and the sidewalk that was about four feet wide and the length of the porch.  This is where Mother planted her English Ivy.

Traveling between the Carolinas  and the state of Georgia, one can see several signs with the following message:  English Ivy Kills Trees.  It seems that the lovely vine, with its evergreen leaves lightly laced with a bit of pale cream, has a bad rap in the South.  One of its likable characteristics is the fact that it is a great ground cover and grows in the shade.  It not only grows in the shade, it grows everywhere.  It not only is a great ground cover, it can and will cover anything that sits still long enough.  Trees have no defense when it comes to English Ivy and it can quickly cover them.  The ivy itself does not kill the tree but its dense green foliage blocks the sunlight from reaching the tree and without sunlight, the tree withers and dies.  It also seems that there are just as many people interested in how to grow English Ivy as there are for those who want to know how to get rid of it.

Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so did the seasons of South Corey Street.  Upon our arrival, there were few children on the street.  Most of the stately two story homes had elderly occupants who's children had long been grown and gone.  Since Lela and Blanche were in their teens, the quaint quietness of this tree lined street was soon replaced with honking cars and lots of bicycles.

Mother's ivy was doomed from the beginning.  No matter how hard she tried, she was never able to conquer the sneaker clad feet that used its location as a shortcut to the porch, or the bicycles that found the ivy patch to be a great resting place.  It was not too many years later, as South Corey Street began to shift into a new phase of young people, that she gave up all together and seeded the area with grass.

English Ivy can be a source of great contention for those who would like to be rid of its presence.  But, it is no match for the voracity of youthful endeavors.