Ivy

[Countryboy]

What is the best way to kill Ivy off trees other than cutting it down. I did this two years ago and it is growing again

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

What is the best way to kill Ivy off trees other than cutting it down. I did this two years ago and it is growing again

 

Cut a section out at the base, being careful not to cut into the tree bark, and wait...poss. two years but usually fully effective...except for the regrowth from the cut sections.

 

Stripping is both very time consuming, and an awful job, and causes great disturbance to wildlife who may be using it so is to be avoided generally I would suggest.

 

Hope this helps and, does it really need removing / killing off?

 

Cheers..

Paul

[Andrew Gale]

I sever ivy at ground level and again at 1m, then remove the severed band; this allows you to see any new growth that may form allowing you to remove it before it becomes established.

 

Alternatively apply Ecoplugs to kill the ivy off; other herbicides are available.....

[Mountain man]

I sever ivy at ground level and again at 1m, then remove the severed band; this allows you to see any new growth that may form allowing you to remove it before it becomes established.

 

Alternatively apply Ecoplugs to kill the ivy off; other herbicides are available.....

 

No danger of translocation? (if that's the word)

There was a thread recently where it was talked about in relation to poisoning individual poplars.

[Andrew Gale]

No danger of translocation? (if that's the word)

There was a thread recently where it was talked about in relation to poisoning individual poplars.

 

Not that I'm aware of; ivy uses the host (if that's the correct term) as a scaffold and doesn't directly gain any nutrients from said tree.

[Countryboy]

I had a Oak tree where the ivy had grown all over it and killed the tree. Thank you for your suggestions.

[JLA Arborists]

Ivy doesn't tend to kill trees. If you look at a line of trees with ivy around them, it will grow up some and not others, even of the same species.

A wise mans theory I got told was that trees in decline give off a pheromone that ivy pick up on.

 

If you were ivy would you struggle to compete with the shade of the tree or one that is in decline so you get more and more light. People often see ivy covered dead trees and put two and two together

[Billhook]

I have ivy all over two outbuildings. The bricks are old seventeenth century and porous.

 

Firstly I cut a foot out of the trunk of the larger one which was about four inches in diameter, then I went up with a cherry picker and sprayed a mixture of Garlon and Roundup which I have used many times to great effect on beds of nettles and thistles and other things roundup will not kill well.

 

However the ivy does not seem to be remotely affected by either of these treatments, in fact I think the chemical has acted as a fertiliser!

It has obvious managed to push its tendrils into the brickwork where it finds enough to sustain itself.

 

Any other chemical ideas? Flame thrower would not be wise as there is too much timber about!

[Dog Tag]

 

Any other chemical ideas? Flame thrower would not be wise as there is too much timber about!

 

agent orange. hate the stuff..

[sandspider]

I have ivy all over two outbuildings. The bricks are old seventeenth century and porous.

 

Firstly I cut a foot out of the trunk of the larger one which was about four inches in diameter, then I went up with a cherry picker and sprayed a mixture of Garlon and Roundup which I have used many times to great effect on beds of nettles and thistles and other things roundup will not kill well.

 

However the ivy does not seem to be remotely affected by either of these treatments, in fact I think the chemical has acted as a fertiliser!

It has obvious managed to push its tendrils into the brickwork where it finds enough to sustain itself.

 

Any other chemical ideas? Flame thrower would not be wise as there is too much timber about!

 

If you've cut all the ground stems to the ivy it will eventually die back. Can take a while, but it should get there in the end. (The little rootlets higher up can keep it going for a while, but won't provide enough nutrients in the end - on trees anyway. I'd guess it would be the same on brick?).