Go away Ivy !

Greyhoundmo

Ivy is going rampant in my garden !!!!,how can I get rid of it. I have to be careful what I use as I have dogs

Dovefromabove

When you say rampant - can we have a pic please?

What sort of ivy?  Is this a cultivated form that has got out of control, or is it wild ivy sown by birds that has taken over in a neglected garden?

Greyhoundmo

I would say it's sown by the birds,it's up the fences & next doors shed. I have tried to keep it down but loosing the battle now

nutcutlet

You'll have to pull it off what it's grown over. You can inject the stumps with root killer.

Dovefromabove

I agree with Nutcutlet - pull it off - cut it down to the stumps and we sprayed ours with SBK brushwood killer every time it dared to put out a leaf.  When we moved here there was 20 years of ivy growth up to the eaves of the house, into the treetops and the two side and back fences covered with ivy at least 6 ft thick and 8 ft high - so heavy that when it rained the week after we moved here one of the fences fell down blocking the back door!  We cut it down, filled a couple of skips, dug out what roots we could and sprayed the rest with SBK - that was 20 months ago and we now have lovely flowerfilled borders where the ivy used to be - I still keep my eyes open for any little ivy leaves that dare appear and pull them out with as much root as possible - it can be done 

Good luck!

Greyhoundmo

Thank you so much for your help will give it a go,but Thank you to both of you

Dan cotty

With your rootkiller i would also reccomend using some old motor oil out of a lawn mower too!

Dovefromabove

The recommendation is to allow 6 weeks between applying SBK Brushwood Killer and replanting, but if you've replanted and are still getting occasional bits of ivy pop up you can screen off nearby plants with sheets of cardboard and spray the ivy again - that's what I've done.  It helps the ivy to take up the SBK if you bruise some of the leaves between your fingertips before spraying.

 

 The first photo is part of our garden outside the back door after some of the fence had fallen and we had just started to clear the ivy - we filled three large builders' skips - the second photo is the same area 18 months later - it can be done 

Good luck!

Hurrumph!  Don't know why that's come up sideways 

ShropshireLass

I have ivy growing all along the bottom of my hedge in the front garden, and even out into the lawn! It' taken over a section at the bottom of the garden where the hedge has died back and is absolutely rampant.  

Easy to pull off though, but I'm tackling the ground elder and nettles in the back garden first - the ivy can wait. 

Worringly, I do seem to have some HUGE ground elder growing up through the hedge in the front garden.  Common sense tells me it may just be normal elder but I see ground elder everywhere now....even in my dreams!!!

Dovefromabove

Try to avoid getting SBK on your yew Sara, it won't do it any good, but hopefully the glossy surface on yew leaves will help prevent the take-up of too much weedkiller.

Ground elder looks like this http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://nhm2.uio.no/botanisk/nbf/plantefoto/aegopodium_podagraria_Norman_Hagen01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nhm2.uio.no/botanisk/nbf/plantefoto/Aegopodium_podagraria.htm&h=215&w=234&sz=1&tbnid=s6qQ8TrX7Q_1gM:&tbnh=184&tbnw=200&zoom=1&usg=__v_lt78eHTxEPVFnbrIzs2v7zYMQ=&docid=DBW3gGgKDTffqM&itg=1&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i-GwUaTjBsb64QTn04GYDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CJUBEPwdMAo - it's a pain but it's not as bad as ivy.  Cut off any flowering stems before they seed, then bruise the leaves (bash them a bit with a stick if there's a lot and you can't be bothered to do it with your fingers) then spray with glyphosate on a dry day.  You might need to do it once a week or as often as you can for a few weeks - don't cut it down.  Leave it until it goes brown and dies down - that will indicate that the poison has been drawn back into the roots.  You can then cut the  ground elder down and dispose of it (do not compost).  You will probably have to do the same next spring, and possibly the next, but this method will get rid of it.  The difficult bit comes when you try to stop it spreading in from next door or wherever it came from.  Physical barriers of a thick gauge membrane sunk vertically a couple of feet into the ground is the best solution.

Good luck 

Pinkalicat

What is SBK? Where would I be able to get some.  I fear 'our ivy' may be leading us a merry dance too Sara 4