Keeping ivy in its place

To protect woodlands, keep ivy indoors, or outdoors only as a potted plant or in a contained area. If your ivy blooms, cut off flowers and seed heads, and consider replacing the ivy with a noninvasive ground cover like Epimedium.

Also keep ivy out of trees. It can weaken them by causing crown rot and by overtaking and killing leaves. To remove ivy from a tree, cut vines off at the base. After the vine above the cut dies, strip it off by hand.