Getting Rid of English Ivy

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raisedbedbob Walkerton, VA(Zone 7a) May 04, 2005

Anybody got a solution besides pulling and pulling and pulling some more?

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sylvi74 Oak Grove, MN(Zone 4a) May 04, 2005

Well, you could plant it in my yard. Dang stuff dies on me.

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Night_Bloom Griffin, GA(Zone 8a) May 05, 2005

That is a sign sylvi74 - you don't want this stuff. Trust me - hee.

raisedbedbob - for me that's what it was. Me on my hands and knees, pulling and digging out with a hand claw, and pulling some more. I had yellow jacket companions for most of the process. They'd wait for me to uncover insects (especially crickets) hiding in the ivy, then work together in groups of about 6 or so to tear the cricket apart in like 30 seconds. They actually tolerated quite a bit of abuse from me throwing clods of ivy everywhere, sometimes even hitting them, without even threatening to sting. If not for them entertaining me, the entire process would've been even more boring - there was a LOT of ivy to pull. The previous homeowners had it planted in the flower bed and the former vegetable garden area.

However, I have heard of another method that might help. In general, Round-up (glyphosate) doesn't usually kill English Ivy, but if you mow it first, then spray it with Round-up, I have heard that this works. Of course this would work best on larger sections of English Ivy. I don't know if a weed whacker then spray could work on smaller sections, but it might be worth a try. Dead ivy would be much easier to pull I assume. You might even be able to rake it out.

Good luck!

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pirl (Arlene) Southold, NY(Zone 7a) May 05, 2005

I'm anxiously awaiting a solution to the same problem. Thought we got it all two years ago but I was wrong. It hurts the hands to pull it and can't get a mower in that spot. I try to save my knees for the plants I love.

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Night_Bloom Griffin, GA(Zone 8a) May 05, 2005

pirl, I agree about the wear and tear on the hands. I wore garden gloves and still it was uncomfortable pulling. That ivy is strong stuff.

You might try the weed-whacker. The idea is to "damage" the leaves before the Round-up is applied so that it has a better chance of getting into the plant's system.

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pirl (Arlene) Southold, NY(Zone 7a) May 05, 2005

Thanks so much. Better than trying to squeeze the big mower in that tight spot!

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