How To Make Boston Ivy Grow So It Fills In Gaps?

Question

Hello! For a couple of decades, we’ve had very lush Boston Ivy on our fences. Then one spring, only half of it came back, leaving a lot of the wood exposed dry, and cracked. My guess is, It happened the winter, Christmas weekend about 2 years ago, when we had a tremendous flash freeze here in Cleveland, Ohio. It went from a mild (for late December) 45 degrees with rain around midnight to below zero by morning with strong winds and snow. Even garage door springs broke, uninsulated windows cracked. I removed all the dead branches that spring. Fertilized with Miracle Grow, and now two summers later, it’s growing back really well, but still about 30% empty gaps. It’s July 23rd, and I was wondering if fertilizing now with something would still be beneficial or just wait until early spring before it blossoms? Also, in terms of the largest gap area, should I buy the biggest containers of Boston Ivy I can find and plant those or just plant small ones, and it’s difficult to find large containers of Ivy, unless you know a place to get those. Thank you

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Answer 1

Your suggestion to buy new starts and plant them is a good one, or you can propagate some of the ivy you already have to replant. Boston ivy doesn't normally need fertilization, so overfertilizing will not help. In the meantime, you could add a fast growing annual vine to cover the bare spots. Here is more:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/vines/boston-ivy/propagate-boston-ivy.htm

https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/propagation-trees-shrubs-and-vines-hardwood-cuttings

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/vines/ovgen/growing-annual-climbing-vines.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/vines/boston-ivy/growing-boston-ivy.htm

https://trees.umn.edu/boston-ivy-parthenocissus-tricuspidata