[granjan]

I'm helping my son and his wife with their garden.  On one side is a wall consisting of concrete panels which we are trying to cover.  We've put up trellises for clematis etc. but the ivy I put in almost two years ago is growing well but not clinging.  Am I being impatient or is it possible that the ivy doesn't like the concrete.  If the latter is the case, is there anything we can paint the concrete with that would encourage the ivy to cling. 

Any ideas would be appreciated  Thank you.

[Spana]

Now i may be wrong here but from the back of the mind i remember something about if the ivy is a cutting from the bottom or trailing down part of the parent plant it will never cling, it has to be from a climbing clinging part of the plant.  Also have you tried cutting it hard back so that the new growth has a chance at clinging.   
I like ivy, some of the new varieties are lovely.  I even like the old basic one,I use it a lot as ground cover and have some old farm buildings that are covered in it.  Blackbirds, Robins and Wrens love to nest it in 

[granjan]

Thanks for your thougtst Spana.  We had robins nesting in the ivy round a apple tree a couple of years ago.  It was a delight to watch them as I could see them from my kitchen window 

I'll wait and see what happens.

[Loubs]

I don't know much about ivy, but in my experience I think there are different kinds of ivy - some sucker on to walls better than others.

I have ivy coming into my garden & property from next door, so without being uneighbourly & rude and hanging over the ajoining wall, I'm not sure whether it's all one plant. But I suspect there are 2 separete ivy plants. Some wants to cling to and climb the sunny back or our houses (this gets quick removal from both my neighbour & me while it's still a maneagable height).

The rest just hangs casually (in a very unclingy-way) over my wall from next door and gets a severe haircut from me once or twice a year.

[granjan]

Thanks for your reply Loubs.  On doing some research, it seems some do cling better than others so I'll put up a trellis and tie it in for now and see what happens.  It such an ugly wall and I thought would be a quick way of covering some of it.  Time will tell.    Fortunately the clematis has started to go so all is not lost!