Neshmeer Malik and Tim Joyce
4 hours ago
CHICAGO — WGN's Plant Daddy Tim Joyce is back to debunk gardening myths and share tips, including how to get rid of bindweed.
Apparently, a horticultural myth has been busted when it comes to ivy growing on buildings.
A snazzy article called “Looking Just Vine” states that the idea that ivy causes major structural damage to buildings and should be removed whenever possible is actually not true.
Author James Huong says concerns that the vines will destroy brickwork and cause serious structural damage are not based on actual evidence.
Huong said a 2020 study by the Royal Horticultural Society and the University of Reading on a model brick building showed that the shade provided by leaves could reduce the building's temperature by up to 2 degrees.
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The reduction in large temperature changes between day and night is actually a major factor in the damage to the surface structure. Ivy has not significantly increased the humidity level, but rather helps to stabilize it.
Ivy also helped reduce winter heating bills by about 20 percent, but the study was done on new brick buildings in an area with a much milder climate than Chicago's winters.
The authors cite a 2011 study of brick buildings, which found that ivy growing on them also appears to protect them from man-made pollution.
The science seems to argue that we should leave the ivy in place and plant more of it.
