Written by VT UCF's Urban Forester, Adam McCullough, adam.mccullough@vermont.gov

The video below shows a brick tower 2/3 covered in shining ivy leaves, that fade from deep green at the bottom to bright red at the top. The leaves ripple in the wind on a sunny day with clear skies like gentle waves moving across the surface of a pond. This vision stopped me in my tracks one Autumn day. I took the video because it struck me as heartbreakingly beautiful. Though I also wanted to promote the possibility of using more Ivy in Vermont’s urban landscape.

It shares the space of a building rather than competing for its own. It adds texture and color to an otherwise blank space in the city. It naturally repels and covers up vandalism. It cools the building its attached too much like a shade tree does. And its leaves provide all the air quality benefits and sound reduction of a street tree, without the need for pruning. After all, most of the benefits of a tree come from its leaves, while most of its liabilities come from the wood. Ivy and other true creepers like Wisteria, creeping hydrangea, and Virginia creeper, give us an amazing set of options that I think we could use more of in Vermont.