I’ve heard this too but i’ve never really been convinced of the argument. Perhaps it’s true for certain kinds of vines, but i don’t know. Another argument i’ve heard is that vines will attract a lot of bugs to the house, which depending on the kinds of bugs in your area this could be an issue but i think it’s also an overblown issue.
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When I run that it returns a null pointer exception more often than not.
Wah-wahhhh.
I thought there was also something about trapping moisture near the facade, which accelerated degradation. OTOH, I always thought protecting the face from direct sun or rain would offset the effect, but it might depend on local humidity.
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Nothing to worry about. It’s just the normal building molting process.
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Yes! I take pictures of and write about street art and I’m impressed by how creative it can be and how it can even, in my opinion, add some value and interest to bland areas that people might otherwise overlook.
Here’s a particular favorite I found on the back of a building in an alley.
Clearly this was not the work of your average tagger, although I think even the simplest tag can make a dumpster more interesting.
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I went to school at California State University, Chico, where they pulled almost 100 years of ivy growth off the buildings because it was making them seismically unstable. It took a while for my dad to get used to how the buildings looked without the ivy.
(this was quite a while ago, btw. I’m oooold.)
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I was going to say, bet there is some fetish where seeing things peeled off, like a scab or a bandaid, is a total turn on. And they would have paid huge money for a video.
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I had always hear that too - seems it depends on the ivy:
Self-clinging climbers such as Boston ivy and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus sp.) do not usually cause damage to wall surfaces, but common or English ivy (Hedera helix sp.) supports itself by aerial roots and where these penetrate cracks or joints they may cause structural damage. Sound masonry is unaffected.
Ivy on buildings / RHS Gardening
did not really think it was a snopes type thing but my search there brought back:
(false btw)
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Been studying this for 15 years. The kind of ivy is crucial. Deciduous Parthenocissus tricuspidata varieties bred for the purpose, like Fenway Park, do not harm masonry which is properly maintained. I can show you our observation plantings, one maintained by a professional environmental geologist, who is highly qualified to testify that it DOES NOT degrade properly maintained masonry. If you are worried about increased maintenance, which I think is unjustified by the evidence, then set aside some of the 25% or better HVAC savings you’ll get to cover it.
I really hate to see BoingBoing propagating misinformation like this. Come let me show you the good and bad varieties of vines, so you can identify the ones that were long bred for, and beautifully clothe buildings.
This is like being against electric cars because ICE vehicle salesmen make fun of them. Wright’s buildings may be beautiful, but they are well known for leaking like sieves, being impossible to heat properly, and more.
Virgin Vine, as it is known in Europe, was bred and selected for use as a green wall. None of the heavy, hard to maintain contemporary engineered green wall systems can touch it for function, low maintenance, beauty and low input.
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But doesn’t that normally happen after the Rut in Autumn?
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I actually don’t mind street art in the most place, as long as it’s something creative or interesting.
It’s the 90+% of graffiti that is just mindlessly slapping your/a name on things that is really ugly and annoying, cut that out! 
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no ivy league jewel in the crown until three dee printing becomes available to the masses
Ah, but the ivy really is pretty bad for the buildings. Kinda chews them up. We had one ivy covered building at UT and on one hand, I was sorry to see the ivy go. On the other hand, grackles would roost in the ivy at sundown. Massive, insane amounts of grackles. Which made walking by the place then like attending a Who concert of birds; literally deafening.
EDIT: so I could be wrong about the damage to the building, but this was Austin and whatever was growing on that one building could well have not been good for it. But the freaking birds…!!! I found that painful and I’m somewhat deaf.
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After decoding that to more layman’s terms that’s basically Boston or Japanese Ivy, which like @Tribune said doesn’t really harm anything. I know in the South we have lots of English Ivy, and sure it’ll grow up a building but it will damage it as well. I’ve seen it eat through a +50 year old stone wall. And 9 times out of 10 when someone just says “ivy” that’s the variety they mean. The same kind of rules apply to lots of plants, it’s best to consult a professional if you plan to do something like this.
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There are two types of ivy: the type that keeps its leaves all winter is the destructive type, but if your ivy drops its leaves in the fall then it has all the benefits and none of the disadvantages.
HEY!!! You call your mother right now, young man/lady, and apologize profusely.
/mom mode
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I’ve never seen a kind that drops it’s leaves. English ivy absolutely infested the NW, but it does look spectacular.
Eta
Oh, and I recently reconnected with my own mother in a very positive way. :D. I called her last night! (Yes, guys, call yer mom)
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In the Midwest we have both, so you just have to know the difference. I see there have been a couple of much more informational posts which I hadn’t read yet when I typed my response, but you don’t even have to know the exact name of the ivy to figure out which kind it is, just use the leaves dropping clue.
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Oh, and…
its leaves. You’re welcome!
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Damn you autocorrect!!!
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Going by the previous informational post from someone else i think the accurate way to determine if it’s destructive is the air root mechanism. One will get into cracks, while the other will not. So one just needs to figure out what variety ivy you have, regardless of the leaf loss since this might not happen in certain climates.
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As I understand it, they’re related, and for the average layperson it’s easier to verify the one clue rather than the other. But yeah, if you look at the roots, they’re either suckered on or they root into the brick itself.
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