How to clear ivy?

Hello! I have a lake of ivy in my yard and I'd like to clear out a spot to place a Japanese Maple in come springtime. Does anyone have any advice? This stuff is tenacious as hell!

Some sort of groundclear perhaps? Something that won't hurt the maple come spring...

With something as persistent as ivy you have to dig it out, and do it again as long as it keeps coming up. We had to do that with lily of the valley. We didn't realize how invasive it was until we realized that it was strangling the roots of our azaleas. It took a couple of years before we got it all eradicated.

Also, when you're removing ivy, put it in a secure trash bag; don't recycle it or add it to any greens as compost or clippings. Even the smallest piece will root and begin to take over.

I have beds of the ground creeping IVY and yes I agree whole heartedly with greenhouse_gal, it can or does become a real pest taking over much more ground than intended BUT, kept under the control it requires, it can work well for the purpose it's used.

I grow it (ground cover creeping Ivy) in beds where I grow large Rhododendron shrubs and Azalea's, and it serves me well.
I don't like the look of the wood bark that I need to suppress any weeds until the shrubs grow larger and blanket out the ground where weeds take hold, so the Ivy grows in the wood-chip mulches.
Every couple of years I have to take the garden rake and use it to pull out a lot of the Ivy by the roots, some really tougher areas I have to use the hand rake / fork and tug by hand, AND removing the roots and pos your secateur's to cut the roots.
As mentioned above by greenhouse_girl, put the ivy into a bag and either allow it to rot for a few years (it has once grown through the bag and re-rooted) OR you need to burn it, it burns well and fast as it has an oil in the leaves.

I don't use, and hate the use of weed killers (Chemicals) but I agree some folks are left with no other choice, so IF you have to go down that route, make sure you use a brush killer, something meant for say Brambles etc, something strong enough to get rid of the IVY, like I said, it has an oily waxy substance within the foliage so I would recommend you damage the foliage by whacking with a garden cane or other toll to bruise and damage the greenery, this will allow the chemicals to soak into the foliage, IF not, the chemical killers will just run off the foliage, it's the uptake of of the killer by the greenery that will take the killers chemical down to the roots, pick a leaf from your IVY to show how any water just runs off by holding under a tap, even hot water is hard to penetrate the greenery. IT may take a good few months before you notice any dead or dying greenery and you do have to be patient, but at the same time, there will be new little shoots growing and these will have rooted into the soil and are untreated by the killer so, for my money, you might have to re-do the sraying of chemicals also. Please don't spray on a day there is a slight breeze as the spray WILL travel to other plants you DON'T want killed off.
Hand removal is best, you take as much or as little as you want, YES it's a long process, BUT you do see instant clear space and it's not heavy to cart the removes growth away.

Hope this gives you some knowledge and ideas as to how to try tackle this invasive plant, like I said earlier, It's only invasive IF left to it's own devices, I love it BUT only when it's in the right place and you show it who's boss LOL.

Take good care and best of luck.
WeeNel.

Ditto WeeNel:
To get the weed killer into the plant system you need to damage the leaves. Not cut them all off, but bruise them well.

There are many plants with the common name Ivy.
Hedera helix is English Ivy, there are several varieties.
Hedera canariensis is Algerian Ivy.
Glechoma hederacea is Ground Ivy
Parthenocissus tricuspidata is Boston Ivy.

Best to use the botanical name when there are so many similar (ie invasive) plants with the same common name.

Another approach is to rototill the soil and break up the plants. If you are dead set against weed killers, you can try this. Make sure to rake through the soil VERY thoroughly, removing every little bit that you find.
Then water it like you want it to grow, and trace out every bit that sprouts.
Obviously, this will take time. Get started now, and when you plant the maple go through that soil really well. When more sprouts show up at least they won't be close enough to bother the maple, and you can dig them out when you see them.

Correct Diana, point taken, I was ofcource referring to Hedera, and the type I was talking about was the common Hedera belix, this is an Ivy that is common to UK and is found in lots of old derelict buildings where it's left to it's own devices.
the Hedera belix is largish leaf and all green, I also grow Hedera that has the variegated leaves (yellow edges on each leaf) it prefer's more sunI cant remember the full name Diana, but it may be the Hedera Canariensis (Canary Island Ivy) that's more European but it is grown world wide, I more than likely got it mixed into a flower arrangement as a gift and put the Hedera in the garden after it rooted in the water vase.
Hope this makes things a little bit clearer for anyone else watching this thread,
Take good Care and Kind Regards.
WeeNel.

Hedera canariensis can have leaves to about 6" (15cm) across, closer to a triangular shape, though they are lobed, the lobes are shallow. Around here it is available in the green and the variegated types. Grows really fast in a moist, bright spot out of the hot afternoon sun. In milder areas it is OK in full sun. The company I work for has removed it in prep for landscaping, and it is a haven for rats.

Hedera helix has leaves just a couple of inches across, perhaps 4" max under lush conditions. The leaves of most types are more obviously lobed, though this can vary, there are some varieties with less lobed leaves. It is available in a couple of varieties, 'Hahn's Self Branching' which grows denser, with more branching. 'Glacier', a variegated type, and 'Needlepoint', a dainty little one often used in pots. There are many other varieties, but they are not often used outside.

Either species makes a good ground cover if you mow them every few years, get the woody stuff out of them. This encourages a lot more new growth and keeps it lower, more level. They can be very invasive, though.
The deer around here do not eat these.

Thanks Diana, never thought of taking the mower over it, I've got a very long winding driveway and have planted the Hedera in areas on the edges of that to help hold the soil in place as the seaward side is on a steep edge leading onto an embankment so I dont want soil corrosion, the mower would save hours of work in that area,
I cant lay brick, wood or stone edgings as in time, it just all topples down the embankment, I think next spring (getting too cold now) I will give it a go and see what happens, I've managed to get spring bulbs take hold and at that time of year (spring) it's so pretty, and I'd rather look at greenery as I drive up towards my home than stones that dont belong, I also have wild garlic with it's white flowers growing through the Ivy as well as Blue Bells, so need to be careful when it's time to use the mower.
it's funny how a comment can spark you into great thoughts and fresh ideas EH !!!!!.
Take good care and Best Regards.
WeeNel.

I'm attaching some pictures of the ivy out front. I went out tonight with a garden rake and between that and the weed whacker (among with some digging) I cleared a decent sized area. Thinking that tomorrow I will get the hoe out and then put a weed preventative mulch down after. Thoughts?

Thanks for ask the advice offered so far btw!

Mulch to prevent other weeds, OK. Mulch to begin conditioning the soil, good. It will not stop the ivy (Hedera helix) from coming back, if you missed any bits.
That is OK, though. Let them come back now, before you plant the tree and keep on removing them, tracing them out the best you can to dig out roots and stems.

To get the rest of the Ivy try a spray made with 10 ounces of laundry borax dissolved in 4 ounces of warm water and diluted in 2.5 gallons of room temperature water. This amount will eradicate 1,000 square feet of ground ivy. You might want to also try overseeding sparse areas of the lawn and patches. To prevent it in the future apply a slow release organic lawn fertilizer in early spring and fall and cut your grass high. [Info source: http://www.saferbrand.com/resource/uploads/SaferBrand_Poster_LawnCare_Least_Wanted_List.pdf]

Be very cautious in applying boron in any form to planted areas. While boron is a required plant nutrient, it is required in very small amounts. Excess is toxic. For example, one of my clients had 4 parts per billion in his well water. This was too much for pretty much all the landscape plants. Only Bermuda grass could handle that.

He could irrigate with his well 2 or 3 times, then had to run municipal water to leach the boron out of the soil before he could use the well water again.

I know it's a slow Job, removing all the Ivy, I would continue the way you are by hand and rake, that way you actually see where you have cleared, how much you have done and how much further you want to clear each week, day or weekend etc, there is no point trying to clear it too fast and then you get fed up, disheartened and cant clear any more,
Bet thing to do is clear a good area around the part you want to plant your shrubs / tree, then as time permits, clear the next area.
Even IF you clear / use Chemical killers (easy job) that lasts a few weeks then you have to spray again costly in time and money and the possibility of killing neighbouring plants also.

Just dont give up, your doing a good job, the right way and LOL, think how fit your getting.

Take good care and kindest Regards.
WeeNel.