oak leaf ivy plant
With its beautiful heart-shaped, and often pale green and white variegated leaves, the Oak Leaf Ivy Plant is renowned for being among the most popular and easy to look after house plants. Its foliage and ‘beautiful finely dissected leaves which resemble oak foliage’ gives it the appearance and charm of a green forest. No home or garden would be complete without it!
In this extensive guide, we will explore all the aspects of this splendid plant. We will look at the characteristics of the Oak Leaf Ivy Plant, learn its care tips, discover its benefits, and find creative ways to integrate it in your home or in your garden.
Understanding the Oak Leaf Ivy Plant
The Oak Leaf Ivy Plant (Cissus rhombifolia) is a botanical name of the plant from Vitaceae family. Natural habitats are subtropical and tropical. An interesting feature of this plant is its composition. It is a climbing species and daylight conditions contribute to successful shoot development. Dark green foliage is glossy and reflects the light. The main highlight is its long and sharp shape with a lobed feature that makes it similar to leaves from an oak species.
Many will call this plant ivy but it’s not a true ivy. It’s more closely related to other types of ivy plants, such as English ivy and Boston ivy that are known as decorative climbing plants with trailing vines. However, the scientific name of Oak Leaf Ivy, Pachira aquatica, places it in the separate genus, unlike true ivy plants belonging to the Hedera genus. It also carries other common names including Grape Ivy or Venezuelan Treebine.
Growth Habits and Characteristics
Oak Leaf Ivy is a trailing or climbing vine that grows up to a terrific length, if it is given the opportunity to do so. Its vines can reach up to 10 feet or more. Use it on a trellis or arbor, or in hanging baskets. It can also be used as a ground cover. The dark green leaves are oval-shaped and three-lobed, about 3 to 5 inches long and 2 to 4 inches wide, looking like an acorn.
This toughness, along with the fact Oak Leaf Ivy can tolerate lower light conditions, ranks it high on my list of easy-care plants. Although the plant responds best to bright, indirect light, it will fair well in lower light situations. A humid environment is the only characteristic that requires attention: this is one of those species that can thrive in your bathroom.
Benefits of Oak Leaf Ivy
The Oak Leaf Ivy Plant is in high demand for more than just its visual beauty. As you discover what this plant brings to your table, you can better appreciate it and decide how to best make use of it for your home or garden.
1. Air Purification
Like most indoor plants, Oak Leaf Ivy helps people to breathe better air because it naturally absorbs formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide which comes from our everyday life indoors. Improving your breathing and making the air in your home cleaner are some of the benefits of this plant.
2. Low Maintenance
Low-maintenance is Ivy’s tag line: this is a plant for everyone, whether a novice or an experienced horticulturist. Why? Because Ivy requires hardly any attention to thrive. It’s a hardy plant, so harsh neglect of it won’t kill it off easily. This makes it popular with anyone living a busy lifestyle, or chefs who might suffer from planticide.
3. Versatile Design Element
The cascading vines of Oak Leaf Ivy can be trained to grow up a structure such as a wall, trellis, post or arbour, to provide either an arrow range backdrop or a vertical mass feature dependent on your creative gardening design. Alternatively, the trailing vines can be worked into baskets and pots to pour down the side of the container while filling the basket depending on your design objectives. The design flexibility available with Oak Leaf Ivy makes it an essential tool for any designer.
4. Erosion Control
Plant it in the ground outside and you have an excellent groundcover, useful in preventing soil erosion, especially if you live in and area with a rugged slope or if you have an area with an elevation gradient that’s prone to erosion. This vine (or groundcover) is used in gardens or in landscapes to arrest erosion.
Care Requirements for Oak Leaf Ivy
While Oak Leaf Ivy is fairly low-maintenance, providing the right conditions will help your plant to thrive and remain in good health. You will also be more aware of the idiosyncrasies of your oak leaf ivy.
1. Light Requirements
Though Oak Leaf Ivy performs best in bright, indirect light, it can easily adapt to lower light levels. As with the previous species, houseplant-grade Oak Leaf Ivy should be placed near a window that receives filtered light (a window with sheer curtains works well). Direct sunlight can be damaging to the leaves, causing irreparable scorching and tissue death. However, the plant can still endure lower light levels with nice, slow growth.
2. Watering and Humidity
You should regularly water your Oak Leaf Ivy to keep it happy and healthy, but not too much. Its soil should remain evenly hydrated and moist but not too wet – soggy soil is a big no-no as it will encourage root rot. So after watering, don’t water again until the top inch of soil around the plant has dried out. When it comes to humidity, Oak Leaf Ivy also likes a similarly humid atmosphere. If you’re growing it as a houseplant, especially in a dry interior climate, you might benefit from using a humidifier (or at least misting the leaves on a regular basis) to keep moisture high and promote healthy growth.
3. Soil and Fertilization
A well-draining potting mix (one that holds moisture but won’t be too wet) should be used with Oak Leaf Ivy. It doesn’t have particular moisture needs, but when exposed to waterlogged soil it will rot its roots. A standard potting mix with the addition of something like perlite or sand can help with this. The plant should be fed monthly in spring and summer with a balanced, water-soluble fertiliser to ensure strong, rapid growth. Cut down the frequency of fertilisation to every two months in fall and winter, its season of reduced activity.
4. Pruning and Training
Pruning is another essential part of Oak Leaf Ivy’s maintenance, especially if you don’t want the plant to be enormous. Regular trimming encourages denser growth and keeps the plant from getting too straggly. Trim back any long or dead vines with clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears. If you’re training the plant to climb a trellis or something similar, try gently manoeuvering the vines in the right direction, and secure them in place with plant ties or soft twine.
5. Pest and Disease Management
Oak leaf ivy is also very resistant to pest and diseases, but is sometimes susceptible to the same common indoor plant pests as most other plants, including aphids and mealybugs. Occasional outbreaks of spider mites are rare. These pests can be detected by yellow spots developing on the leaves, webbing or brown spots. To prevent pests, inspect the plant regularly, and treat infestations as early as possible with insecticidal soap or neem oil. Good air circulation should prevent any fungal diseases, such as powdery mildew.
Creative Uses for Oak Leaf Ivy
Photo supplied by the authorIt has other uses too: you can grow Oak Leaf Ivy indoors in a pot or planter, or even as a groundcover in your garden. Here are some ideas on how to utilise this plant in your living areas:
1. Indoor Green Walls
Train an Oak Leaf Ivy up a vertical surface to create a striking indoor green wall. Any wall-mounted trellis – or even a wooden lattice or metal frame – will be draped in the trailing vines of this plant, making for a striking, and living, feature wall. Green walls are right on trend for interior design, and this is a great plant to use for them.
2. Hanging Baskets and Planters
Good in hanging baskets or elevated planters, it is fast-growing and can be allowed to cascade downwards where it has the effect of a waterfall of greens that tumbles merrily downwards. Oak Leaf Ivy grows happily in hanged baskets or elevated planters and cascades beautifully. Hang the baskets near a window, on a balcony, or in a shaded outdoor area for full enjoyment.
3. Ground Cover in Landscaping
Outside gardens, in gardens with full sun, Oak Leaf Ivy makes a good ground cover. It will quickly spread to fill in bare spots, or can be used to blanket a large area. Its dense growth and fast spreading habit can create mounds that hide rocks or create a rich green carpet. It works particularly well in areas weren’t ordinary grasses will grows, such as in a garden in the shade or under a tree.
4. Trellis or Arbor Accent
Plant one at the base of a garden structure, such as a trellis, arbour or pergola. Soon the plant will have clambered and smothered the structure with its leaves and cascading tendrils. Think of it as a natural, low-maintenance canopy that can turn any barren Vitruvian archway into a rustic, ivy-enchanted space in the garden – a secluded, shady spot for a nap, or a romantic place for tea and chitchat.