God created the ivy for every human being born without a "green thumb". That is not to say, however, that everyone who has ivy in their garden or as an indoor plant has no green thumb. Call it God's infinite wisdom but we all know the ivy can withstand neglect and is very hard to kill. Yet, it is the perfect plant indoors. We all know that plants are the ultimate air purifiers and particularly good at absorbing carbon dioxide and providing human and pets indoors with oxygen in return. Ivy is very good at it and it demands very little. But what has it got to do with woodworking? Very little. However, what little a woodworker can do is the least he or she can offer the humble ivy.
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| An array of ivy in various vases and plant stands are a way to show them off. |
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| Ivy can be coaxed into climbing a "scaffolding" |
Ivy will do well in pots or on a tiny indoor plot in our home.
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| Ivy love to climb. I've used sticks - several if needed - as scaffolding for them to climb. |
Sticks for ivy to climb are good because they don't take up too much of the soil but they're not very good to look at. A branch or tree trunk will look good specially once the ivy takes up root around the circumference. The downside is that the stout trunk or branch will take up a good chunk of the soil to bury it in. And it will be prone to rotting from the water or moist soil.
A friend gave me this one really seasoned fence post - probably mesquite - that will make a great climber post for ivy. It is a solid hardwood, not easy to cut, drill or plane or ripped into work pieces but I was determined to make it a woodworking project and to showcase an idea. I thought of using a "spike" to "plant" the climber without burying any portion of it into the soil, thus avoiding the moist soil directly, to avoid rotting. The solution: (a) drill a 5/8 in hole; (b) insert and glue a 5/8 inch dowel rod; (c) sleeve a PVC pipe that has a 5/8 inch inside diameter through the dowel; (d) "Plant" the post into the soil with the spike. Photos below should explain how. This idea will work on pots too.
Ivy is a creeping plant on flat soil surface but loves to climb or hang downwards. In a few weeks or months the ivy shown here will "fill" the entire circumference of the post.
