How to Grow Your Own Holiday Holly and Ivy in the Garden

Deck the Garden With Boughs of Holly

Using fresh plants is one of the best ways to bring the full experience of the holiday season into your home and life. Growing holly and ivy is relatively simple. Both plants are known for growing quickly, making it possible for you to have fresh holiday holly and ivy in no time.

Ivy

When picking out ivy for your holiday decorations choosing a plant is relatively simple. Since all ivy shares the same characteristics of leaf shape and growth patterns all you have to do is focus on the look that you want. Some ivy has large leaves while other have small or miniature leaves. The leaves can also vary in color but remain constant in the shape from plant to plant. Most often the leaves are light green with highlights in yellow and white. In other kinds of ivy the leaves can be yellow with green highlights or even darker green with bright white contrasts.

The most common ivy plant, the hedra ivy comes in lots of different types. No matter what type of hedra ivy you have it will grow the best on the edge of a table, in a hanging basket, or on the edge of a windowsill. This will allow the leaves to expand outward and down as they normally would. The Grape Ivy is also another common type of ivy that does well in hanging baskets. In the summer you can plant this ivy in a shady spot in your garden.

All ivy plants dislike direct sunlight and will do the best with filtered or indirect light. Ivy will also grow in places where the light is poor which makes it a great houseplant for just about anyone. Ivy also enjoys cool temperatures and moderately moist soil, but not wet. Make sure there is never standing water in the bottom of the ivy. Wet soil can cause root rot which will eventually kill the ivy. If you notice your ivy is becoming top heavy or the soil dries out quickly transplant it to a larger pot.