PlantFiles: Creeping Fig, Climbing Fig, Creeping Ficus
Ficus pumila

We bought a house 3yrs ago with the side brick wall shared with my neighbor completely covered in it. It seems like the original owners planted it 20yrs ago when they moved in and never attempted to control it. It has gone through little cracks in the wall over to my neighbors, climbed over and down his side of the wall and extended itself an additional 2ft up in places to make the privacy between us, well, more private.

I had thought that there were two plants in there, as the mature leaves are broader and the branches produce figs. This is obviously not the case. And I believe it's currently flowering.

As for the poster that asked about the plant living although he had cut it from the trunk/root (and I know this is late), the plant self roots. I believe it has rooted itself in our neighbor's side of the yard. On several occasions in our attempt to remove some of the fig, we've found that it's rooted itself to another location in the dirt. We've actually severed it in several places and it's only killed a few of the many branches. It's likely rooted itself in some poor crevice within the tree.

My husband did the backbreaking work on (hopefully) removing it from one of our backyard hard-scaped planters, leaving the rest of the fig for the "privacy". We'll see if it pops back up. And yes, he wasn't able to remove all of the thick root system as we were afraid it was going to break a pipe. I'm going to be watching carefully to see if it grows back.

And yes, it's suckered up paint from our fences as well.

I planted a small plant over 20 years ago on the south side of my folks home. It would grow up the side of the house, and, if the winter was cold enough, defoliate or die to the roots. Every year it'd grow back up and never got to the mature leaf stage. In my zone, 8b, it is a die-back perennial vine that seems to be kept under control by winter. I think it's survived for so long as it gets protection from the house as its planted right against the house and the south facing gives it the seasonal sun it needs.

I love the posting earlier that includes the updates months later... "still no success", "still no success". That's great.

Hopefully, I will have a better story to tell, but I fear I will be fighting this for years to come, as it appears well established in the home we just moved into.

I do, however, want to contradict an earlier posting. Our creeping ivy grew from the ground up the trunk and branches of a tree, and had literally choked part of the tree before we got to it. Rather than work for a month to try and get all the individual vines from the top down, we decided to cut every main artery at the bottom of the tree and see what happens. Sure enough, all the vines above died, which makes it look like half the tree is brown, when in reality the tree's leaves are green, and the ivy's leaves are brown. Now it's just a matter of waiting and hopefully seeing the individual vines slowly fall off.

We also did our best to clear ALL the roots out of our back flowerbeds. We pulled about enough to fill 10 garbage bags, and our yard is not that big.

I'll try to keep you updated on my success.

TVBART
Corpus Christi, TX

I HATE this plant. Previous owners of my current home planted it... I don't know how long ago, but it has "runners" with a 3"-4" diameter.

And roots under the house. When allowed to grow freely (for just ONE season), it severely damaged wood siding and a brick chimney.

And it will not die. I have seen runners send out shoots AFTER the runners have been cut off from their roots. I find small shoots of it 20-30 feet away from where the main infestation is and I dig and dig and it always comes back. It laughs at both Roundup and Othro Brush B-Gon.

I will NEVER plant this anywhere, anywhere, anywhere.

The folks who lived in our house before us constructed a brick pedastal to hold a potted plant and planted creeping fig at the base. It has grown up to make a very nice cover for the pedastal. We've lived here for about 6 months, and so far I've had no negative experiences with this plant -- it's easy to control and not nearly as invasive as some of the other vines in my yard.

A great plant if you have room and need something covered. It will cover anything. I use it to cover some PVC pipes that are unsightly.

I have had this plant for better than ten years. I clipped a cutting from the wall of a mall entrance in Boca Raton after having seen this plant used in various topiary displays at Disneyworld. For several years I had it growing on an alligator wire frame filled with sphagnum moss hanging on an stucco wall on the East border of my yard. After a few years the moss disintegrated, and the plant began to root to, and climb on the wall. I cut it down and put it in the Sable palm where it has done very well for a long time. In the palm it's easy to keep it under control.
It is a great plant for making topiary, or for use on a trellis, but it can get out of control if not watched on a regular basis.
It will work it's way into cracks of stucco and wood, so it should not be used against a house.
A no brainer for care, except for the cutting back to keep it under control.
Art

A nice fast grower. Up towards the northern limits of their hardiness they aren't so invasive. I grow them as a climber in the shade of my garage. In their second year they have doubled in height and keep on growing!

I love this plant for its close growth to the wall and its spread.

A couple of inconsistencies I would like to correct though... Above it is said to be poisonous, but in China and neighboring Asian countries, the figs are used as an ingredient in a drink called "Grass Jelly." I would confirm this before attempting to ingest it though... You can eat the puffer fish, but if any parts of the stomach are ingested, it can be deadly... Must be an asian thing, or an acient Chinese secret...

[HYPERLINK@waynesword.palomar.edu]

Also, it does have one pest that I am aware of: snails like to eat the tender tips of the new growth...

I have the misfortune to have this plant growing the back yard of the house I just bought. The plant is mature, producing the large leaves and fruit. The large leaves grow on stems that extend out from the main vine stem, making the vine bush-like.

It is a fast grower and has taken over a nice shade tree, which it is choking out. I have tried to cut the stems near their base with a saw, but that had no effect on the rest of the vine high up in the tree. Does anyone have any idea why? Is it parasitic?

I may have to have the entire tree cut down as it appears to be weakening.

Avoid this plant!

San Antonio, Tx.

I have been trying to kill this plant for years due to the damage it has done to the brick and wood on my house. I had to cut the base of the vines with a chainsaw because they were so large. I dug and dug and dug last year and thought that I had all of the roots. But as the photo I posted today shows, it has emerged once again. :0( . I have tried all types of plant killers, but it always comes back. It spread all over my house from a 4 inch pot transplant. Be careful where you plant it and be sure you want it there. I have to cut it to the ground every year and it is difficult to remove when it has attached itself to brick. I have not been able to remove all of the suckers that attach the vines to surfaces.

Update 12/2/04 Thought I had killed it last February, but it's back again! Ugh ,,,

Update: 5/17/06 Thought I dug up all the roots last year ... it's baaaack.

I have been growing Creeping Fig for years as an indoor plant. It has several excellent qualities. I use it in terrariums with live animals in the terrarium enclosures. It is a robust grower; given adequate light and water it swiftly makes a ground cover and a climbing vine. I keep snakes and all my tanks are set up as naturally as possible.

Over the years creeping fig has distinguished itself as a durable plant that is unaffected by the traffic of snakes, and in point of fact actually "adapts" to higher traffic of more active species by growing a longer stem on ground-born vines, allowing snakes to move under the leaves without disturbing them.

This plant is easy to trim back, although like many plants cutting it back creates a fuller, bushier plant with larger leaves. It is beautiful and very hardy. I have found the variegated variety is less hardy and robust. I have had limited success in trying to propagate cuttings or even separate larger plants. The roots are delicate when it comes to splitting up an existing plant.

But overall, in spite of any minor difficulties, it is an excellent house/terrarium plant. I have also seen it used as a wall cover here in my neighborhood here in south Florida (U.S.) As a terrarium plant on a scale of 1-10 I give it a 9, only because it is so swift growing that trimming it back can be a bit of work; otherwise it would be a 10.

I'm sorry I let it grow from one side wall of my house, across the back wall and to the other side. In addition to spreading by suckers (which stain or take the paint off any painted surface), it turns woody and goes through the crevices in any wall. The woody vine-branches can get over 1/2 inch thick requiring a lopper to cut back. It exudes a sticky sap which likes to muck up my pruning shears.

The leaves do make a great addition to my mulch pile. When I asked my local nurseryman when to prune he grinned and said "Butcher it anytime!" This is a classic case of an invasive plant that does its job too well.

You can have an entire house covered with this plant.

Also called "Creeping Fig Vine, it makes a wonderful groundcover.