Ivy roots into the core of a drystone wall and forces the stones apart, and pulling it off makes the damage worse. Plex Group explains what is happening and the right way to fix it across the Cotswolds.
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Ivy climbs using short aerial roots that grip the stone face, and on mortared masonry that is often where it stays. Drystone is different. The open joints between stones give the plant a route inside, and once a stem finds the cool damp core it roots into the hearting itself. Those stems then thicken year on year, and a stem that entered a joint as a wiry runner becomes an expanding wedge of timber inside the wall. Each season of growth forces the face stones a little further apart, rotates them off their beds, and pushes the hearting out of position. On older garden walls around Moreton-in-Marsh and Broadway we regularly open up ivy covered lengths and find stems the thickness of a wrist running horizontally through the middle of the wall.
A drystone wall has no mortar holding it together. It stands because every stone bears correctly on the ones below and the whole structure leans in on itself at the correct batter. Mature ivy can add a substantial dead load to that structure, concentrated high on the wall where it does most harm, and almost always on one face, pulling the wall off balance. Worse than the dead weight is the live load. A face of evergreen foliage acts as a sail, and every winter gale rocks the entire mass, working stones loose in a way an uncovered wall never experiences. The soft Cotswold oolitic limestone gives the aerial roots an easy grip, which is partly why walls across the wolds carry ivy so readily.
The instinct is to grab the ivy and pull, and on a drystone wall that is the most damaging thing you can do. The stems are not sitting on the surface. They are woven through the joints and rooted into the core, so pulling them extracts stones, hearting and cope stones along with the plant. On a badly affected wall the ivy has also displaced so much of the original structure that the root mass is now doing part of the work of holding the wall up, and stripping it in one go can bring the face down with it. The correct sequence is to sever the stems at the base, leave the growth to die back over a season, then take the affected sections down by hand and rebuild.
A blanket of ivy holds moisture against and inside the wall, keeping the core wet long after the weather has dried. In winter that trapped water freezes and expands, and each freeze-thaw cycle levers the face stones apart a little more, working on stone the ivy has already loosened. The foliage also hides the evidence. Bulges, slipped copes and emptied joints that would be spotted early on a bare wall stay invisible under ivy until the growth is cut back, which is why an ivy covered wall in an older Cotswold garden is often far further gone than it looks from the path.
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We start with a full site assessment to establish how deep the ivy has gone and how much of the wall is now depending on it. Surface growth is traced back to its rooting points and the main stems are severed at the base, then left for the growth to die back rather than pulled green. Where stems have penetrated the core, the affected length is carefully taken down by hand, the dead stem and root material is stripped out of the hearting, and the wall is rebuilt with the original stone. We repack the core solid, bed through stones to tie the faces, correct the batter, and finish with a proper cope so there are no open tops for regrowth to exploit. Where the ivy is rooted in the ground beside the wall we remove or treat the rootstock so the problem does not return. Plex Group repairs and rebuilds drystone and garden walls across the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Worcestershire.
Ivy damage to a drystone wall is progressive but it is entirely repairable when it is dealt with in the right order. Plex Group manages ivy removal and rebuilds walls across the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. Get in touch to arrange an assessment.
Ivy roots into the core of a drystone wall and forces the stones apart, and pulling it off makes the damage worse. Plex Group explains what is happening and the right way to fix it across the Cotswolds.
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From the initial meeting to the final clear up Patrick and Luke were unfailingly polite and professional. Patrick’s quotation for the work was sensible with a detailed breakdown. The work was started on time and was kept to time. The resulting terracing exceeded expectations and the work area was left cleaner than when the team arrived. I cannot thank Patrick, Luke and Jake enough for all their work and would have no hesitation in recommending PLEX Group.
It has been a pleasure having Plex work with me on my garden project. Totally engaged, very communicative and prompt. Access to my property is difficult but they just worked around any problems with a refreshing 'can do' attitude. I would happily recommend Plex to anyone working on a garden project.
Fantastic work and would highly recommend. The team were professional, friendly, considerate, hard working and flexible to ensure the works met our needs and expectations. Really nice team to have on site and were respectful and kept it as tidy as they could. Very impressed with the work and looking to get them to come back to do a couple of other jobs for us in the future.
I am really happy with the work that Plex did. They came up with solutions to problems that arose quickly, efficiently and without any stress. They were friendly, professional, organised, efficient and had excellent communication.
We have recently had a new garage installed from the Plex team and we are thrilled with the finished product. Can't thank Patrick Luke and their team enough. Would highly recommend.
I would highly recommend Luke and Patrick and their team. They are all extremely polite and hard-working. They put up a new pergola in our back garden and tidied up the edges of the garden. An excellent job.
Patrick, Luke and their team have transformed our sloped garden giving us a lovley functional space. They removed a hedge sadly over run with brambles with a fence gaining us a couple more meters of garden too! Despite having a week of rain they did their best to clear up at the end of the job. We would highly recommend this professional team.
Luke and Patrick have completed two projects for us now. They are the most polite and professional people with a hardworking team of individuals. Nothing is too much trouble for them.
Luke and his team are really lovely and professional. Cannot recommend him enough.
Luke and the team are absolutely brilliant. A passion for what they do and personal but professional, so pleased to have found them!
Really pleased with the concrete base for my carport that was completed by the team , worked really hard in poor weather conditions . Great job would definitely recommend the team .
Our garden has never looked better - hard-working, thorough, and also great at getting in touch if there's a change to the schedule, etc. They have nursed our box hedging back to health. Before and and after photos are a bonus!
Competitive price wise even though the work carried out was to a very high standard. I was very pleased with the end result and impressed with the tidiness they left the garden after all the work was carried out. A very happy customer!
Very obliging and efficient we have worked out a schedule that suits us both.
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