Ivy Bonsai Progression (2016- Now)

This is my English Ivy I am trying to grow as bonsai and I will be going through its progression below. I have a feeling that this will be a very long journey.

(If you want to read more about its suitability you can read  – Is Ivy  A Good Tree For Bonsai?)

If you want to watch it in video format, you can watch the YouTube playlist below. The videos show the progression every month throughout the year, sort of like a time lapse.

Just be aware that some of my earlier videos are not the best quality, but just like my trees, they slowly improve over time, so stick with them and watch both get a little better as the playlist continues.

English Ivy (Hedera Helix), is easy found growing in gardens, which is exactly where I found mine.

It is considered a weed as it can very quickly start to take over an area. It is a vine so it will want to grow long thin branches that stretch out over a large area, which is kind of the opposite of what we want from a bonsai.

2016

I believe it was the summer of 2016 I collected this Ivy but I do not have any pictures of it at this time. 

Basically I was clearing a garden that was covered in it. I took a piece that was “thick” from what was available in the garden, which means it was about as thick as a pencil.

Since it’s a vine  Ivy grows very long and thin, so finding actual thick material is hard. 

I just planted it in a pot and ignored it. My plan was to just let it do whatever it wants for a good few years and that is almost what happened.

2017-2018

The ivy was just placed out of the way and ignored.

I have zero photos of it during this time, which is annoying and certainly does not make a good progression report!

2019

I had to move house and I wanted to bring this ivy.

I pruned it back quite hard, as it had been left to grow out and was very long and leggy.

I also reported it; well I took it out of the big pot it was in and put it in a smaller pot, trying to keep as many of the roots as possible. I had to do this or leave it behind.

Here it is after the move. The tree is at an angle in the pot, so it must have got knocked in the move. Not ideal, but ivy is strong. I can’t really much about this and will have to wait until spring 2020

The tree was healthy and growing strong, so in early summer I defoliated it and wired it.

I was trying to spread the branches a little and create a better primary structure. It looks kind of strange, but when I repot it back to the angle it needs to be at, it will look a  lot better.

It was then left to grow out for the rest of the year

2020

The year started with a hard prune in late winter to push back all the long growth.

In spring when the new buds where swelling it was repotted and the roots where pruned pretty hard.

I was able to correct the planting angle and get the tree to be more upright like I had originally intended.

for the rest of the year it was allowed to grow out and recover.

2021

2021 started the same way, pruning back the long growth in late winter.

It was not repotted this year

In early summer I removed about 3 or 4 really strong shoots. They looked like they were about to explode with growth and I just removed them to try and give my balance to the tree. While this tree is still in development, I don’t just want a couple of branches to get all the vigour.

  It was then allowed to just grow out for the rest of the year.

Ivy is evergreen, but sometimes old leaves will die and drop off, but they turn a nice yellow colour before they drop.

2022

As always the tree was given a hard prune in late winter to remove all the long and leggy growth.

Once the new buds started to swell in spring I repotted the tree. It had been in the pot for 2 years and it was getting a little crowded in there. I pruned the roots back hard and just put it back in the same pot.

After the repot it was left alone. It did not grow much and was slow to recover.

The leaves turned purple in winter, this is an evergreen, but this colour change happens every year.

2023

At the start of 2023 I pruned the tree back. It didnt need much work, but one or two branches had gotten a little long.

I did not repot the tree in spring. It was very slow growing recently, so I dont think the pot will be full of roots.

In the summer I pruned the tree …although this was literally one branch that was too long. The rest of the tree didn’t need any work.

After this it was left to grow freely for the rest of the season and it seemed to do well.

2024

and that is where we are up to with this tree. I will be updating this page and releasing a new youtube video as time goes on.

Although ivy is a fast grower, it is a vine, so it takes a long time to thicken and even develop branching. This makes growing them as bonsai a bit of a challenge, which you can probably already tell that from the progression of this tree so far.

(They are very easy to care for, but you can read more about that in my Ivy Bonsai Care.)