How to Add Ivy to Your Flower Pots

Overview

Delicate trailing ivies, particularly those with variegated foliage, create contrast and add interest to flower pots and planters. As accents to delicate pastel blooms, they provide a touch of romance. Although ivies can be trained to climb a trellis or to grow vertically, their most common use in flowerpots is as a filler to provide contrasting foliage. In hanging baskets, ivies cascade over the sides, growing to lengths of several feet under optimum conditions.

Step 1

Fill flower pots ¾ full with potting mixture. A mixture of equal parts all-purpose potting soil, peat moss and perlite makes an excellent lightweight potting soil that provides good drainage.

Step 2

Place the primary flowers you wish to grow in the center of the pot. In large containers, place upright plants in the center to create height. Geraniums, dwarf lilies or dwarf zinnias provide both height and color. Add mounding plants like impatiens or marigolds around the outside.

Step 3

Add ivies evenly spaced around the perimeter of the pot to encourage them to tumble over the sides. In rectangular containers, add ivies to the corners and evenly spaced along the edge. A standard window box requires three to four small ivy plants to create the desired effect. Rearrange the planting to create the look you prefer.

Step 4

Fill in around the plants with soil and tamp down around the roots to remove air pockets. Water until water runs through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. Fertilize every two weeks with water-soluble fertilizer following the recommended strength.