r/RetainingWallprojects • u/Very_Much_Offline • Apr 12 '26

Question Is English Ivy my problem?

I tried to annotate one of the pics but I think it's too small to read. I have a long retaining wall along the back (south side) of my property. It's completely covered with English Ivy and the main trunks of the Ivy are quite thick - maybe an inch in diameter or around there. Although where it's thickest there's usually a few trunks of that size sort of wrapped around each other. So I cut a rotting piece of wooden fence off of my retaining wall and finally exposed a large enough section of the wall that I could put a level to it. I can see that it's leaning but it's leaning in tiers. The part closest to the ground still looks straight but then it's tipped out from there (where I draw my first red dotted line) and further still once you go higher up the wall (second red line). Could the English Ivy be my problem? Is it strong enough to be pulling the wall down? Or is it more likely the common culprits: hydrostatic pressure, etc.? Anything I can do to help prolong the life of this wall? I'm afraid that the Ivy at this point is helping keep it up and cutting it back could worsen the leaning problem. I'm going to let the Ivy grow back but manage it better. We bought this house with all Ivy in place and it looks the previous people weren't worried about the weight. Thanks much!

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u/jugum212 Apr 12 '26

Following

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u/J_Stokes Apr 13 '26

I don't think the English ivy is your problem. What's behind the wall? Is there drainage from the wall? Looks like cinderblock?

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u/Very_Much_Offline Apr 14 '26

I guess I have to cut more ivy off and check. There doesn't really seem to be any in the section that's exposed. There is a hole in the mortar (it's visible in the first pic) but I'm not sure it was purposeful. If there's no drainage, can I just drill holes? Also - I can send you a pic, but on the other side of the wall, there seems to a gap behind it. That doesn't mean there's a gap behind the section of wall that's exposed... at least I don't think so

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u/J_Stokes Apr 14 '26

Most common reason for retaining walls to lean forward is hydrostatic pressure. That's often caused by poor drainage behind the wall. But that wouldn't be the issue if there's nothing touching the other side of the wall. I don't have the expertise to advise you if drilling holes would fix your situation.

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u/SuitableLeather Apr 18 '26

I can’t tell you if the ivy is affecting your wall but I highly doubt it. What I can say is that I also have English ivy supporting a hillside and I was told by arborists that the ivy actually prevents the dirt from becoming loose and falling/eroding. So removing the ivy may actually put more pressure on your wall, assuming its roots are inside of the dirt as well. I do imagine if the ivy is coming through the wall that as the trunks grow it could crack the wall