English Ivy (Hedera helix) – Trailing Houseplant (3L Pot)

An English ivy grown for indoors, supplied in a hanging basket pot so the stems can fall straight away.

Hedera helix is the common ivy, and the small-leaved forms are the ones that do this job well. The stems carry neat three to five lobed dark green leaves and will trail a metre or two from a shelf or a hanging pot if you leave them, or climb a small frame if you would rather train them upwards. It clips well, so you can keep it tight and bushy or let it run.

Indoors it wants bright indirect light and will manage in a duller spot, which is why it works in rooms where fussier plants sulk. Keep the compost evenly moist without letting the pot stand in water, and mist the foliage now and then, particularly in a centrally heated room. Feed fortnightly through spring and summer. It prefers a cool room to a hot one, roughly 10C to 21C, so keep it off a radiator shelf and out of direct heat. Prune whenever you like to shape it or thicken it up. Ivy is a hardy plant outdoors in Britain, so a basket that has grown too big for the house can be planted out.

Supplied as one established plant in a 3 litre, 19cm hanging basket pot, ready to display or to pot into a container of your own. Ivy is harmful to dogs, cats, rabbits and rodents if eaten and the sap irritates skin, so hang it out of reach.

Cultural Information

Common Name: English ivy, common ivy

Fully Grown Height and Spread: Trails 1 to 2m indoors if left unpruned

Growth Habit: Trailing, cascading and self-clinging climbing

Perfect For: Hanging baskets, shelves, trailing displays and small climbing frames

Foliage: Dark green, three to five lobed evergreen leaves

Flowering Time: Grown for foliage; flowers only on mature growth outdoors

Planting Position: Bright to medium indirect light indoors

Soil Type: Free-draining, peat-free houseplant compost

Hardiness: Hardy outdoors in Britain, sold here as an indoor trailing plant

Maintenance: Easy; keep the compost evenly moist and clip to shape

Seasonal Interest: Evergreen foliage all year

Type: Evergreen trailing houseplant