Does Anyone Have Tips to Get Rid of English Ivy?

[Elora Lunasea]

I've been doing a ton of research on how to get rid of English Ivy and I'm still stumped about it.

English Ivy has become one of those dreaded plants in the garden. Nearly indestructible, horribly invasive and on top of it, some people have allergies to it (so count me out as the person who will be dealing with the actual killing off of said annoyance).

We have nearly no backyard to speak off, due to our detached garage and having a corner lot. I have maybe 20' x 15' of good usable area for gardening; which is currently over-run by ivy, ancient Rose of Sharons, weed trees which keep popping up each time we chop them down (a wild cherry for instance - I know we need to have someone come out and grind down the stump to really take care of it), some sad thin roses which don't bloom due to being choked by all that mess, etc. The only good thing is a large hydrangea tree which I had my arborist come out to save (yes, I actually have an arborist; from my last home) and this year it bloomed rather nicely for it's age and in spite of the ivy in it (he managed to get most of it out).

Anyhoo - back to matters at hand. We must get rid of this stuff. We've been mandated by the town for one thing because it's climbing all over the garage and it's an eye sore according to the City. We agree. It also ruined the old garage doors and I don't want that to happen again (I already replaced them).

So, Ghosty thinks tilling the area over might work but I'm concerned this will just wind up spreading their little seeds further all over the place. There is too much of it to pull up by hand (or at least for us). We don't want to poison the area obviously with chemicals because me goal is to be able to grow some veggies eventually (and, get back to my beloved roses).

I'm thinking of hiring someone to come and just pull the whole thing out, like a foot or two down, dirt and all and cart it all away. Probably will be pricey but this might do the trick?

This area is also right outside my new sliding door, view right out of the kitchen so I really want to be able to make it look really great eventually from the room. Right now each time I look out it looks like something from the side of a haunted house to me :p

Any advice? Has anyone dealt with this before?

[JohnnyVann]

Hate to bring bad news Elora but I've never heard of a non-toxic solution to OEI. And if you go that rout, go professional because the over the counter stuff doesn't work either. So it's pretty much either hire an illegal alien to trim it back every year or contaminate the earth with toxic chems.

God I'm the barer of bad news. :crying:

[Spaceman Opus]

http://static.funnyjunk.com/pictures/nukey_nuke_it_from_orbit_its_the_only_way_to_be_su re0.jpg

[Io Zeno]

I had no idea it was so difficult to get rid of but if you google "kill english" the first suggestion is "ivy".

:D

[JohnnyVann]

My mom is president of the master gardeners for central Texas. I can ask her but last time we talked about it she just rolled her eyes.

[Kokoro Fasching]

I've been doing a ton of research on how to get rid of English Ivy and I'm still stumped about it.

English Ivy has become one of those dreaded plants in the garden. Nearly indestructible, horribly invasive and on top of it, some people have allergies to it (so count me out as the person who will be dealing with the actual killing off of said annoyance).

We have nearly no backyard to speak off, due to our detached garage and having a corner lot. I have maybe 20' x 15' of good usable area for gardening; which is currently over-run by ivy, ancient Rose of Sharons, weed trees which keep popping up each time we chop them down (a wild cherry for instance - I know we need to have someone come out and grind down the stump to really take care of it), some sad thin roses which don't bloom due to being choked by all that mess, etc. The only good thing is a large hydrangea tree which I had my arborist come out to save (yes, I actually have an arborist; from my last home) and this year it bloomed rather nicely for it's age and in spite of the ivy in it (he managed to get most of it out).

Anyhoo - back to matters at hand. We must get rid of this stuff. We've been mandated by the town for one thing because it's climbing all over the garage and it's an eye sore according to the City. We agree. It also ruined the old garage doors and I don't want that to happen again (I already replaced them).

So, Ghosty thinks tilling the area over might work but I'm concerned this will just wind up spreading their little seeds further all over the place. There is too much of it to pull up by hand (or at least for us). We don't want to poison the area obviously with chemicals because me goal is to be able to grow some veggies eventually (and, get back to my beloved roses).

I'm thinking of hiring someone to come and just pull the whole thing out, like a foot or two down, dirt and all and cart it all away. Probably will be pricey but this might do the trick?

This area is also right outside my new sliding door, view right out of the kitchen so I really want to be able to make it look really great eventually from the room. Right now each time I look out it looks like something from the side of a haunted house to me :p

Any advice? Has anyone dealt with this before?


The only real way is to use one of the ground clear chemicals.. it will kill everything for a year in that space. You will need to spray/till/spray/till for a couple of months to make sure everything there is dead. Then after a year, check the soil for ph balance, fertilize as needed, and see if it comes back. If not, go ahead and plant nicer things. :)

[Elora Lunasea]

Hate to bring bad news Elora but I've never heard of a non-toxic solution to OEI. And if you go that rout, go professional because the over the counter stuff doesn't work either. So it's pretty much either hire an illegal alien to trim it back every year or contaminate the earth with toxic chems.

God I'm the barer of bad news. :crying:

This actually made me laugh because the garden center I used to use at my other home had this great staff of Mexican guys. The lead person, Oscar, was fantastic. I became rather friendly with him in fact and I'm sure if I called them (they haven't seen me in at least 2 years) they'd be thrilled to have my business again; and they were one of the less expensive places in my area.

And yes - the point is - he was here illegally. We had a couple of conversations about that. I really got a first hand view of what that was like from him.

[margaret mfume]

ammonium sulfamate

[Elora Lunasea]

ammonium sulfamate

Hey Margaret!

And, what does it do? Is it really bad for neighboring plants?

[Textured Surface]

Dig a trench around it about 9 inches deep and put bricks/decorative rock in there. It won't spread.
The roots hit air, and double back.

I have a very nice little contained area around a fountain.
Of course, you can't see the fountain anymore, it's overgrown with Ivy (mostly).
However, it won't spread that way.

[margaret mfume]

Sorry, I misspelled it, should have wrote sulphamate. ETA: Im seeing it spelled both ways, I dunno.



I came across it when I was wanting to deal with a tree stump, used it to accelerate the decomposition, and to eradicate english ivy which was not as extensive as your situation. The thing is, while it does take out neighboring plants,you can apply it directly to the ivy and it goes down to the roots. I did drill some holes in both the stump and the ivy to help that along. I also had a friend use it to get rid of poison ivy at the woods edge adjacent to my property because I'm crazy sensitive to the stuff. It's a simple chemical, similar to nitrogen fertilizer, which is what it reverts to after its in the soil awhile. That's why I recommended it. Your soil will be more acidic initially. It was something I was comfortable using with my pets & kid and for the environment, I'd be comfortable planting a garden down the road.

[Govi]

In our first house, we had a messy blackberry patch that we wanted out. The machinist who was training me in how to do a machine part drawing that he could understand told me how he'd permanently removed a blackberry patch from his land in Oregon. He'd hired some pigs (and a pig fence, I guess) and they came and rooted out the whole patch down to a depth of about a foot. He said that the down side was that it was several years before the former blackberry patch stopped smelling of pig shit.

Needless to say, for our rental house, my husband opted instead for slashing the thing at the ground, and rolling it up as he cut. He rolled this enormous ball of blackberry vines into a big dumpster. After that, he and I periodically had to go out to weed the blackberries from the planned vegetable garden.

[Monna]

http://www.poopprank.com/dog-poop-video/dp7.jpg

[Malia]

Dig out the whole lot including the roots and refill the yard with clean fill.

[Roxie]

I have pondered the concept of reverse psychology.

Anything I want to live will die and anything I want to die will live.

Start tending the weeds and try to kill the flowers :)

[Trout]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pPsuc9rvU4Y/S-nZaYfhbnI/AAAAAAAABlg/VqXK-eqXd_4/s1600/flamethrower.jpg

[JohnnyVann]

I sent mom an email so we'll see. But I still think it's hopeless.

Mom, I was asked by someone how to get rid of this. I told them napalm might do it. They didn't like that so I told them to learn to like it.

They still didn't like my answer.

So I told them I would ask the president of the central Texas master gardeners if she had any suggestions.

[Lucifer Baphomet]

I had no idea it was so difficult to get rid of but if you google "kill english" the first suggestion is "ivy".

:D

In Scotland...

You typed "Kill English" into google.

No wonder my PC is behaving oddly.

MI5 are onto us

[Roxie]

I know how to get rid of it, but you won't like the answer and not sure if you can buy it anymore.

Paraquat aka Agent Orange. We used in the orchard to kill poison ivy under the apple trees.
You dilute the hell out of it because it will kill every thing that grows including full grown trees.

[JohnnyVann]

And people

[Roxie]

And people

Naw, even though we seem to have misplaced Grandpa :)

[Jen]

Parks manual:

English Ivy (Hedera helix) creeps into natural areas
and up trees, choking out anything
in its path. The mature flowering and
fruiting form of English ivy develops
after it reaches a certain height and
age. To control: Cut down from trees
and mow once a year in late winter.
Do not allow English ivy to spill from your yard into
parks or other natural areas. To eradicate: Remove ivy
from trees by cutting all vines at ground level. Cut
the vines again several feet up the trunk. Peal the cut
section of ivy off, but be careful not to strip the bark
of the tree. The portion left growing on the tree will
eventually die. Pull ground ivy back a few feet from the
base of the tree to slow regrowth up the tree trunk.
Remove ground ivy by hand pulling, cutting and
mulching over top, and/or applying a systemic herbicide
like triclopyr to leaves or freshly cut large stems.
Expect all control techniques to require small amounts
of monitoring and retreatment for complete eradication.

additionally: you can use glyphosate [roundup] on it in early spring, but that stuff is going to ruin your soil for some time. I would opt for manual controls.

have heard that putting vinegar around the stems will also kill it, but that's a rumor, not confirmed.

[Vivianne Draper]

introduce virginia creeper or kudzu and let them have a death match?

[JohnnyVann]

I sent mom an email so we'll see. But I still think it's hopeless.

Mom answered:

Can't wait to see your ipad. *Glyphosphate, trade name Round-up, will kill anything if you spray it several times about ten days apart. *(This will even kill Bermuda grass with roots to China!) *Best results in hot weather when it's actively growing.

*To do it organically, you could only cover with black plastic for a LONG time. *With most plants, you could totally cover with dirt and keep wet for long time to make it rot, but it's doubtful with English ivy. *That's what I'm doing right now with Miscanthus, a huge type of grass that's too big to dig up. *Of course, it likes it dry soil, and English Ivy is pretty happy in damp soil.

Nut grass is about the #1 challenge around the world. *I've read the way to kill it organically is to constantly check it and clip every time it just appears above ground. *Guess that'd mean going out to clip the ivy every morning when you're having your morning coffee! *You'd sure have to be dedicated! *Does not seem like a practical method to me!

YMMV :shrug:

[Elora Lunasea]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pPsuc9rvU4Y/S-nZaYfhbnI/AAAAAAAABlg/VqXK-eqXd_4/s1600/flamethrower.jpg

Are you volunteering for the job?

[Elora Lunasea]

Over all sounds like I have my work cut out for me.

I'm currently still leaning towards someone else coming in to handle this. I have allergies, so it sure isn't going to be me. Ghosty wants a shot at it with the tiller.

I had read about covering it with plastic sheeting/mulch/whatever which sounds like a rather good plan to me actually - smother the crap out of it. I just have low hopes for me being able to have any chance of a good garden space there next spring.

Perhaps I'll have to think about Monna's plan - get a bunch of neighborhood dogs and let them piss and shit all over the place :p

[Cherish]

Try roundup, put it on extra strong. If spraying it doesn't work.. cut it off and paint the stubs with it straight out of the bottle. Or talk to TrueValue, Ace Hardware or HomeDepot.

[Cherish]

Naw, even though we seem to have misplaced Grandpa :)

mmm yes it does kill people. They dropped it on the heads of our troops in Viet Nam.. My brother now has Multiple Myloma and is dying from it.

Yaw know some car oil or diesel might work too.

[Roxie]

mmm yes it does kill people. They dropped it on the heads of our troops in Viet Nam.. My brother now has Multiple Myloma and is dying from it.

Yaw know some car oil or diesel might work too.

I know.

If you use it, you apply it directly to the base of the plant in small amounts.

I won't defend the army's use of it.

That is one material you do not apply from the air.

The same time they were selling it to the army, they were selling it to the farmers.
With explicit instructions how to apply the stuff.

I am sorry about your brother :hug:

[JohnnyVann]

Over all sounds like I have my work cut out for me.

I'm currently still leaning towards someone else coming in to handle this. I have allergies, so it sure isn't going to be me. Ghosty wants a shot at it with the tiller.

I had read about covering it with plastic sheeting/mulch/whatever which sounds like a rather good plan to me actually - smother the crap out of it. I just have low hopes for me being able to have any chance of a good garden space there next spring.

Perhaps I'll have to think about Monna's plan - get a bunch of neighborhood dogs and let them piss and shit all over the place :p

I still say Napalm. But mom is very modest but she knows her stuff. I gotta believe her suggestions have as much chance of working as anything. Let Ghosty have his try (you know how guys are) but when it fails, pay someone to do what my mom's posts suggests.

Or quite honestly, the tiller is just going to break it up and he'll have to do it a bunch of times because it's going to grow back. But tilling then covering might work very well :shrug:

[Jen]

Again- mow it in winter- freezing the core of a plant's stems does tend to discourage it.

Then in spring, if you want to roll with the Ebol Monsanto, apply Roundup [when the leaves are still new and soft].

Then cover with black plastic or the weedblocker stuff for at least a few months [I'd leave it there for a year, myself].

If all that doesn't do it, get on hands and knees with an axe and a spoon... XD

[JohnnyVann]

And then use Napalm followed by blasting off and nuking it from orbit :p

[Jen]

And then use Napalm followed by blasting off and nuking it from orbit :p

It really is the only way to be sure.

[Vivianne Draper]

Cherish I am very sorry to hear about your brother. Hopefully his end days will be peaceful and pain free.

[Trout]

And people

My dad died of complications from Agent Orange exposure when he was in Vietnam. The VA covered his expenses, but it still was a pretty horrible way to go. He spent the last year of his life in a VA hospital.

Are you volunteering for the job?

Hell yeah! If you supply the flame thrower, count me in. I'd love to go all Duke Nuke'em with a flame thrower! How much fun would it be? I can't guarantee that the entire neighborhood won't go up in flames, but that looks like a really fun toy!

[Elora Lunasea]

And then use Napalm followed by blasting off and nuking it from orbit :p

So...where would one purchase Napalm? :D

[Jen]

So...where would one purchase Napalm? :D

Gas plus naptha plus coconut oil.

I think if you put mothballs and suntan lotion into your lawnmower, and then started it, it would become a homegrown napalm spreader...

:thinking:

...have I been watching too much Red Green?

[JohnnyVann]

So...where would one purchase Napalm? :D

Call Ripley

[Elora Lunasea]

You two are too knowledgeable about this.

/runs off scared

[Roxie]

Gas plus naptha plus coconut oil.

I think if you put mothballs and suntan lotion into your lawnmower, and then started it, it would become a homegrown napalm spreader...

:thinking:

...have I been watching too much Red Green?

I saw a yotube video of a home made flame thrower made from a supersoaker

[Roxie]

You two are too knowledgeable about this.

/runs off scared

You really want to set your hair standing on end, read this.
It's amazing the dangerous things you can make from common household items

http://www.natvanbooks.com/cat/143.gif

[Kokoro Fasching]

So...where would one purchase Napalm? :D

Gas and Ivory Snow flakes, or the soap shaved up. :)

Oh.. and Cinnamon Oil... cause it makes it smell so much nicer.. :P