I’ve spent a few days shredding ivy – it’s been very therapeutic, but I now believe my shredding can’t be used for composting as the ivy can re-grow from the shredded bits. Refrain from handling your junk or you will wish you were dead. Wait for 1-2 years while the sun cooks the ivy. if you want sbk try Wilkes as they stock it and last time I bought some it was cheaper than b&q. This method works better for removing smaller patches of ivy. Stopping weeds without dangerous chemicals, and doing it for many years – some give a 25 years guarantee, wow! Your yard looks fabulous, from the pictures you posted! Shredded bark mulch and other organic mulch materials decompose over time and need to be replenished once or twice yearly. when I cut through the 2-3inch diameter vines, one tree literally fell down!. I bought a house recently and the house has great amount ivy. This website contains affiliate links. In my case, I added plants right away to help fill in the slope. And in most yards there’s such an endless supply of leaves, plant cuttings and other good things to compost instead of ivy. Nothing is 100%. . Our ivy covered about 1,000 square feet and I feel like we used three 10×50-foot sheets in the different areas of our yard. We’ve shared this tip before – but with the awesome weather, we have had the last couple days it seemed like a good time to mention it again! Whether you initially plant ivy as a ground cover or to grow up a trellis or building, it will spread quickly to fill in any empty spaces in the garden. It can be done. Pros. We have Lily of the Valley that is crowding one garden in our backyard and slowly spreading into the front yard garden and under our fence into the neighbor’s yard. She received her Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University. Learn more on my Disclosures page. Today I broke my back all day pulling ivy’s and searching for ideas to get rid of ivy some other way. Hi David, my ivy was very woody, too. I had to stop the ivy. This is pretty effective . Just one little vine with tiny leaves grows up your tree or on your house. On our side the ivy has stayed away! There will be a lot. English ivy is a hardy ground cover and wall-climbing plant that can be troublesome for homeowners. To sum up, here’s what I used to kill the ivy and then cover the area to prevent regrowth. Roundup just kills the top and it comes back. Watch for over spill, if you stand on it then your grass it will kill your grass. I started with this method, and it was like giving a St. Bernard a haircut using nothing but a pair of nail clippers. Cut off all the ground cover leaves and stems with pruning shears, and sterilize the blades. English ivy can be killed with a simple vinegar and salt solution. However, birds can drop weed seeds on top of the mulch. I think you’ve got the right idea of using the big pieces for firewood. I have not had occasion to have to tackle ivy (yet), but have successfully managed to kill off established trees in the past willow, leilandii, and, ash, all close to foundations and drains, 1 cut off and remove top growth leaving a stump. Thicker stems and roots might prove particularly persistent, so pull the roots out of the ground by hand, or dig them with a garden trowel to hasten eradication. It is listed as safe on ornamentals, vegetables, and fruit trees. I have had 2 jobs that I had to remove all the fabric from the areas, what a job. My mum used to soak cotton balls in it and put it around the roots and that worked But it might need more than one treatment. I’m pretty sure the next day it all grew back and then some. It's now starting to invade my yard in the spot I'd like to start a butterfly garden. They make round up for ivy. Luckily, the natural and environmentally friendly combination of salt and vinegar can help homeowners and gardeners kill this plant. The neighbor diagnally behind us has English Ivy growing on their fence. It is designed to kill ground ivy, oxalis, wild violet, ragweed, and clover on lawns and other turfgrass areas. All rights reserved. We do have woods at the top of the hill and I have no idea if it has crept into the woods. A former cake decorator and competitive horticulturist, Amelia Allonsy is most at home in the kitchen or with her hands in the dirt. If the weeds are vigorous enough, they will find a way back to the light (remember, the integrity of the landscape fabric will be compromised when you punch holes in it for your new plants). We’ll burn the thick vines ( cut up like logs) in our open hearth fire in a few years time once it has seasoned. The caveat with using landscape fabric is that it becomes even more important to keep up with removing any weeds that come up. 2 drill a 1/2"-12mm hole vertically into the stump. For me, it wasn’t worth the risk after going through all the trouble of removing it. Over … But there’s a better method: solarization. We have had to work with our neighbors a little bit too, and Eric has even gone next door once or twice to cut back their ivy away from our fence, with permission. When left to grow unchecked, it will climb up into trees and eventually cover the foliage, which kills the branches. The old landscape fabric was stuffed into the empty mulch bags and set out with the trash. Spread a 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch over the entire area, perhaps extending a few feet beyond to account for spreading underground roots. Timing your weed killer application is also important to produce the most effective eradication results. Lawn and Landscape Maintenance. 2) Smother It. I ached for days afterward. This can help block any roots from sprouting up as the cardboard decomposes. Organic mulch layered on top of landscape fabric helps to kill weeds and keep seeds from germinating. Under the plastic, the ivy is deprived of water and cooks in the heat. After spending a summer getting nowhere with brute force (and cutting through two electric cords with the hedge trimmer…it’s the ivy’s fault), I decided it was time for a new strategy. In the future, you may be able to curb some of the weeds by laying paper/landscape fabric/mulch before planting your ivy. . Over the years, it has worked its way up their hill and started to creep into our hill. Full strength glyphosphate, painted on the cut stem of a poison ivy plant, can effectively kill the roots with a minimum impact to surrounding soil. This mat of ivy can be controlled and ultimately killed in one of two ways – chemical weedkiller control or black plastic sheet. Sorry for my long post. Stake down the plastic or hold it in place with something heavy. That would have been much easier for me. It is highly unlikely that the patch of groundcover ivy will be in a regular shape, but a plastic sheet can still be used to kill a large portion of it. © 2021 Hammer & a Headband. Make sure your ground is fairly smooth before moving on to the next step. One (or more) question (s) if I may – does the ivy make good compost? This works best if the plant you want to kill is growing in a crack in a path or next to the driveway or somewhere other than a garden bed full of desirable plants. Use landscape staples to secure these layers as needed. How many rolls of plastic did you end up having to buy? The rest I sent to the city yard debris bin. The sun does most of the work while you turn your attention to other projects until the time is up. Use either white or better still cider vinegar as it is more acidic. The vines grow quickly and often smother surrounding shrubs and plants. Invasive ivy plants can also spread out of control, taking over your yard and choking out other plants. It seemed impossible, but eventually I got rid of every last root and vine of ivy in my yard. However if you use landscape fabric where it’s supposed to be used and you follow instructions of course it will suppress weeds. After killing the ivy, stay vigilant. I should have added, the ivy in question had taken on tree like qualities – it had killed 3 trees as it grew up the trunks, and then formed a canopy ! and will it be acidic or alkaline in nature? When it’s ready there will be no greenery left. There should be a support group for people trying to remove massive amounts of ivy from their yards. Cardboard and landscape fabric prevent light from reaching ground cover plants. . Cut back vines and dig out the roots. You can also brush the solution directly onto cut stems, where it can translocate to the roots. It’s still all clear, with the ivy gone for good! Kill Ivy with vinegar and salt. I’m so glad to hear that! Alternately, I’m told that industrial composting uses a heating process to kill the ivy and sterilise it from disease. Pull gently to test the bond before pulling down hard on the vines. Lay overlapping pieces of cardboard over the former ivy area. I understand that i could put my shredded ivy into black plastic sacks and let it die over time ( about 1-2 years) and then use in composting. My yard had an erosion hole and random spots of unevenness. Same with a $100 roll and a $10 roll. Well done . It took all my strength, and after a hard day’s work I had barely made a dent. If the ivy grows on a building with loose or crumbling mortar, it's best to simply leave the dead ivy in place, allowing it to decay naturally. It’s a miserable job. This will kill the ivy above the cut, causing its leaves to first turn brown and then fall; this could take 1-2 years. The 20×100-foot sheet I linked to above should probably cover most ivy problems, or you could try a couple of 10×50-foot sheets and see if that works. Washing up liquid. Linked to you here, under Eradication techniques: https://colinpurrington.com/2018/11/kill-english-ivy. You don’t need a lot of back strength, just a lot of patience. Mix a product containing 46 percent glyphosate at a rate of 2 2/3 ounces of glyphosate to 1 gallon of water, along with 1 to 2 ounces of a surfactant such as vegetable oil to help it coat the leaves. Happy. It is a myth to suggest either product would kill … Ivy can sometimes be controlled by cutting, with either hand pruners for small patches or a lawnmower for large patches. Now you can cut and pull the ivy with relative ease. It is best to pull/lay the ivy as far away as possible from where you are weeding.