Green Up a Wall with Creeping Fig
Everyone knows you can grow climbing plants – Boston ivy, Virginia creeper, climbing hydrangea, etc. – on outdoor walls. After all, the term “ivy league university” comes from the way Boston Ivy covers so many of the buildings on university campuses. But have you ever considered letting climbers cover your indoor walls as well?

There are actually several houseplants that produce aerial roots or adhesive pads and can thus cling to walls. This group includes heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum, formerly P. oxycardium), pothos (Epipremnum aureum), monstera (Monstera deliciosa) and English ivy (Hedera helix). Most are of these sold as hanging basket plants and normally allowed to drip downwards from their pots, but in the wild, they usually grow upwards, clinging to tree trunks or rocks… or buildings. Why not use them that way indoors?

I’ve experimenting with creeping fig (Ficus pumila) as an indoor wall cover for about 35 years. I’d seen it used as a wall climber in several public greenhouses, notably in Longwood Gardens and Meadowbrook Farms in Pennsylvania and in the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in Brussels, not to forget in the sales area of Logee’s Greenhouses in Connecticut. I feel it is a better choice than many others because of its denser growth habit and natural tendency to branch freely. Plus, with its tiny leaves growing one practically on top of the next, like shingles on a roof, it’s simply very attractive when grown that way.

I first I tried growing it on walls in various apartments over the years, but usually ended up moving before it got very far. Then, at my current address, I let it grow up a wall in my dining room over a 4-year period. I thought the result was really quite outstanding… but then I lost the plant (the person entrusted with watering all my plants while I was away forgot to water that one). It was quite a shock to arrive home and see a shower of yellowing leaves dropping from the walls and ceiling! In spite of a careful attempt to revive it, it didn’t recover and I had to remove it.

I reinstalled a creeping fig in my dining room 7 years ago and you can see the results in the photo. It grows on two walls and across the ceiling. No, it doesn’t cover the entire surface (far from it!), but it has this zigzag growth habit, a bit like a Roomba, hitting an obstacle, then heading off in another direction, so I’m hoping to see more wall coverage over time.

The leaves of this plant are tiny and press against the wall or ceiling, with the result that several guests thought I’d painted a climbing plant on the wall.

Actually, I also have another creeping fig climbing up the inside walls of my fireplace… but that’s another story.

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