Most effective way of getting rid of ivy

[openspaceman]

On 04/03/2021 at 13:32, timberonabike said:

it will die off and be easy to pull at. Best method on buildings so you don't pull mortar.

About 15 or more years ago I decided the ivy "fan" on my house was getting out of hand, so I cut it off at the base. I tried pulling tendrils off but it gripped hard to the brick and mortar came away with it.

 

Today I pulled this other bit, it's still grippy to the brick and pulling mortar even though the stems are worm eaten and nearly rotted to dust.

[lux]

About 15 or more years ago I decided the ivy "fan" on my house was getting out of hand, so I cut it off at the base. I tried pulling tendrils off but it gripped hard to the brick and mortar came away with it.
 
Today I pulled this other bit, it's still grippy to the brick and pulling mortar even though the stems are worm eaten and nearly rotted to dust.

De-barking irons are good for ivy on walls. It won’t pull at the mortar

[Stere]

I like the scew driver method also 😏

[sime42]

Cheers Mick - although I’m not sure about your lovemaking technique if it involves a screwdriver.. ;-) !!

Brings a new meaning to screwing. [emoji12]

[sime42]

I’d rather take it off green than cut and wait for it to die turn to hard ,brittle dusty nightmare....start at the top and roil it down and it falls off under its own weight and is supple enough to manipulate around branches than when it’s rock hard and dead .

That sounds a promising approach to the job. I normally go bottom up if I have to strip the crap off there and then.
The only thing that puts me off is the often treacherous climb up past the ivy. If it's really thick it's difficult to find secure hand and foot holds. Is there a technique for making that easier?

[Timbermcpherson]

I hate ivy! Not good for use if its on trees but Escort herbicide at 5g for 10L kicks its nasty ass so bad I could nearly feel sorry for it. It takes a month to start to work but I have never seen something kill it so effectively. (and works like a charm on gorse to)

Edited March 7, 2021 by Timbermcpherson

[peds]

19 minutes ago, Timbermcpherson said:

I hate ivy! Not good for use if its on trees but Escort herbicide at 5g for 10L kicks its nasty ass so bad I could nearly feel sorry for it. It takes a month to start to work but I have never seen something kill it so effectively. (and works like a charm on gorse to)

If it takes a month to work... just cut the stem and walk away, put the poison back in the drawer, and do your local ecosystem a huge favour.

[Timbermcpherson]

5 minutes ago, peds said:

If it takes a month to work... just cut the stem and walk away, put the poison back in the drawer, and do your local ecosystem a huge favour.

I bottom cut and leave when it will work.  But when there is a lot of it, bottom cutting can be hit and miss (while still requiring some herbicide to kill the stump) and require much more in fuel, oil, diesel and time due to revisits. 

At the end of the day, we could just walk barefoot to jobs and use handsaws, and the client could watch the debris slowly rot in their back yard, but we are paid for results, not good intentions.

I dont like using herbicides, but I like failing at certain tasks and wasting time less.

 

 

[MattyF]

That sounds a promising approach to the job. I normally go bottom up if I have to strip the crap off there and then.
The only thing that puts me off is the often treacherous climb up past the ivy. If it's really thick it's difficult to find secure hand and foot holds. Is there a technique for making that easier?

Mewp or base anchor SRT and then tip tie in and work down.
What I tend to do is cut down one or two sides keeping a straight line to the bottom with a 2511 or 150, some thing with an accurate but none aggressive cut for around branches or unions but trying to keep the cutting to an absolute minimum so it peels off like a banana skin in one or two big sheets , if you can get ground crew to pull with hooks and rods when it gets to the really thick stuff at the bottom even better ..... then it can be dragged to the chipper in big lumps instead of a million little bits to be cut in to straight strips to make it easy to feed in.
This one on Friday took about 10 mins to strip off

... granted it was a fell so you didn’t have to be cautious about damaging the cambium but it went right in too the last few meters of the crown...
The worse I’ve done is spending a day and a half on a large multi stemmed ash but was well worth the effort and better results than any reduction or thin..
If the clients happy to look at a load of dead and constantly falling crap for years by all means remove a strip from the base and walk away though!

[htb]

19 hours ago, sime42 said:

That sounds a promising approach to the job. I normally go bottom up if I have to strip the crap off there and then.
The only thing that puts me off is the often treacherous climb up past the ivy. If it's really thick it's difficult to find secure hand and foot holds. Is there a technique for making that easier?

Big shot, high anchor, foot and knee ascender, preferably SRT