Ivy

marcia_

 How do I kill ivy. I planted it about 10 years ago without knowing how crazy it would get, I know I'm daft.
 It's now taken over the fence and it's bigger in next doors garden, plus has been climbing the wall of the house. 

 I cut it right back in on my side at the end of the summer but it's grown back as it was before. 

How do I kill it before it completely takes over. It nearly has already. I've tried roundup which has no effect. 

Tia 

fatbelly

Can you get to the roots?

I'd try digging out as much as you can.

Try roundup on any new growth that pops up

marcia_

fatbelly said:

Can you get to the roots?

I'd try digging out as much as you can.

Try roundup on any new growth that pops up

  I can try, I know vaguely where I planted it, will have to get right into the bush were it's huge to find it 

-taff

You've got to cut it down and dig up the roots. There's not much that you can buy as a member of the public that will kill ivy roots, the job is down to you. Ivy can root along it's length as well so it may be rooted in several places, hence why your neighbours ivy didn't die.[ re-read what I wrote there and had to put a hasty 'ivy' in there in case it was misconstrued!] There's no remedy except manual labour for this one.

marcia_

 I will have to get digging then Ty 

twopenny

Ivy will root itself all over the place.

Perhaps it's just in the wrong place but do take care of your back when pulling bits out. It's too easy to foget and get carried away and it's one of the worst things for backs.

If you cut it off in essential places it will die back and dead brittle ivy is a nightmare to deal with, more than the living stuff - voice of exprience!

I've managed to cut it back in two properties. One I left it as a neat wall, variegated ivy and the other I've grown up as a tree.

This is because it attracts insects for the birds, Holly Blue tiny butterflies like the flowers and birds use it for shelter. It's one of the best plants for that.

The tree thing is easy to keep control of. Just clean the main stem and chop back to there. It will bush out.

stripling

marcia_ said:

 How do I kill ivy. I planted it about 10 years ago without knowing how crazy it would get, I know I'm daft.
 It's now taken over the fence and it's bigger in next doors garden, plus has been climbing the wall of the house. 

 I cut it right back in on my side at the end of the summer but it's grown back as it was before. 

How do I kill it before it completely takes over. It nearly has already. I've tried roundup which has no effect. 

Tia 

Spray leaves with glyphosate. Leave for a week or so maybe spray a 2nd time if there's a lot - you need it to be dry weather the first few days after each spray. Then cut through the stems near ground level. Find the thickest stems and using a nail or similar make a hole into the centre (top down) place a little more glyphosate in the hole. That should kill the roots. 

The top covering will die off.  The entire process can be repeated if necessary. I killed off a huge swathe like this that covered my mum's entire fence.  For ivy on a house - cut through the stems at ground level asap. Let the rest die off. 

It's probably better (and cheaper) to buy a concentrated bottle of glyphosate by the litre (Amazon - Rootblast is quite good) and mix it yourself in a spray container instead of bothering with those garden centre ready-to-go small bottles.

marcia_

stripling said:

marcia_ said:

 How do I kill ivy. I planted it about 10 years ago without knowing how crazy it would get, I know I'm daft.
 It's now taken over the fence and it's bigger in next doors garden, plus has been climbing the wall of the house. 

 I cut it right back in on my side at the end of the summer but it's grown back as it was before. 

How do I kill it before it completely takes over. It nearly has already. I've tried roundup which has no effect. 

Tia 

Spray leaves with glyphosate. Leave for a week or so maybe spray a 2nd time if there's a lot - you need it to be dry weather the first few days after each spray. Then cut through the stems near ground level. Find the thickest stems and using a nail or similar make a hole into the centre (top down) place a little more glyphosate in the hole. That should kill the roots. 

The top covering will die off.  The entire process can be repeated if necessary. I killed off a huge swathe like this that covered my mum's entire fence.  For ivy on a house - cut through the stems at ground level asap. Let the rest die off. 

It's probably better (and cheaper) to buy a concentrated bottle of glyphosate by the litre (Amazon - Rootblast is quite good) and mix it yourself in a spray container instead of bothering with those garden centre ready-to-go small bottles.

 Thank you I will buy rootblast and see how it goes 

GrubbyGirl_2

Cut it down to soil level and dig out the roots is you can't get all the roots out paint them with SBK stump killer.  My front garden in my new house was full of it and I got rid of it in 1 season by doing that.  Oh and pick up every little bit as the smallest piece of stem can make a new plant