Most effective way of getting rid of ivy

[djbobbins]

Not sure if this should be in the homeowner or tree care forum, but it’s a bit of both...

 

I have been stripping back contents of the garden of the house we moved into a fortnight or so ago.

 

The previous owners had done some nice stuff, in places, but then seem to have given up on anything other than the most basic of maintenance.

 

There a couple of reasonably mature apples trees, a damson tree and a few other bits - along with a couple of dead trees. Everything in that area of choked with ivy - one stem I cut through today was over 30mm thick, at about 2 metres above ground level.

 

Where it is on the trees, but hasn’t yet killed them, I am cutting the ivy stems and peeling off foliage above that. There is also a mass of ivy (think like a 30 foot long of woven mess, completely burying a 4 foot tall fence) which I am hacking through with secateurs. The ground is also matted with ivy.

 

So... what’s the most effective way to prevent regrowth? I want to put a workshop / log store in part of that corner, so would like to not have it swamped with ivy. I also would like to give the fruit trees a prune back and a fighting chance of survival, which they wouldn’t otherwise have got.

 

I’ve tried spraying roundup onto ivy leaves before but with no particular effect. Any other ideas? I assume there are no predators / creatures that will eat the stuff, in a controlled way?

[Ratman]

I drilled the ivy tree that was planted at front of my house when i moved in an put some neat gallup (glyphosate) in with a syringe, dolled it eventually. Spent hours ripping the little suckler buds off my brickwork [emoji30] horrible stuff ivy!

[djbobbins]

I have ordered some 360g/l Gallup so will be painting / syringing that into the big stalks and spraying it onto the leaves of any small plants.

It took me half an hour to peel and cut the stems on about 3 foot of the mass of ivy clustered over the fence. It is going to be quite cathartic piling it up on a bonfire heap and putting a match to it :-)

[peds]

If you are in no major hurry, just cut the stem and walk away. Wait a month, then pull it down. 

If you need it done now, then cut the stem a month ago. 

Using chemical is pointless, but I would say that because I'm a smelly hippy. 

[rapalaman]

War of attrition! Keep cutting back, stripping out, digging out small stems, cut off bigger ones, poison with glyphosate, or use eco plugs (same thing but more controlled), repeat process again and again until there’s no more regrowth.

No magic wand unfortunately- just hard work, patience, and swearing until it’s gone 👍

[timberonabike]

Cut it at the base, 8 inch gaps everywhere. Wait a bit and it will die off and be easy to pull at. Best method on buildings so you don't pull mortar.
Goats and sheep also like it.

Got a bit of experience. The back of our house was covered in it when we bought it, along with all of one hedge line and all the trees. 20 cube of it squashed into dumpy bags and removed so far and only a third in. Some was growing along the power line to the house and behind some other ivy we found an outside toilet and coal shed as well as another shed at the end of the garden.

[Stubby]

Witch craft .

[sime42]

Horrible stuff, it really is the devil's own plant. Nothing to add about getting rid of it. If I'm not in a rush I normally cut off a clear band of about 12 all around the trunk of the afflicted tree and then just wait for it to die off above. It's easier to pull off when dead.
As a note, be careful of the dust. When I used to do a lot of it I found it really affected my lungs. Made me cough a lot and even felt chest pain sometimes. I resorted to wearing a dust mask in the end, that helped. Not sure if it is dust, or small fibres or maybe pollen from the ivy flowers.

[Guest Gimlet]

Just cut and weed-wipe. 9:1 Glyphosate stump killing mix. 

 

timberonabike is absolutely correct. Don't attempt to peel ivy away from masonry until it's properly dead and gone brown and then it will come away very easily. When it's brittle it'll blow out of mortar joints with a pressure washer if there's repointing to be done.

 

If it's smothering a tree, when it's dead and brown the tree will start to shrug it off itself.

Edited March 5, 2021 by Gimlet

[djbobbins]

Thanks all!! I have already cut the stems and will be leaving the ivy on the living trees to die back.

I want to kill the roots if possible and get rid of the tangled mess generally, but fortunately there is only one small area that’s on brickwork (my neighbour’s garage wall, ironically) so I will trim / spray that and see if I can get rid without any damage.