English Ivy Invasion
In 1775 Paul Revere warned of the British invasion. Paul may have neglected to tell use that the British were also bringing some of their English Ivy as a troublesome remembrance. So our plague continues....
This ivy is known for harvesting snakes, mosquitoes and rodents. All the creatures I don’t want loitering around my family. I battled containment for years then resorted to elimination.
There are a few ways I found to rid this ever-invasive English Ivy. Make no mistake, it is a long difficult process! It will take persistence and determination.
Make your decision: DIY or Make the Payment
DIY:
Start with the fibrous root systems. Bottom up starts with a top down tactic. Feed the roots via the leaf and exposed fibrous runners.
Start with the fibrous root systems. Bottom up starts with a top down tactic. Feed the roots via the leaf and exposed fibrous runners.
An alternative low/no toxicity that works for me is salt, vinegar, soap.
I use this homemade concoction and it is effective. 1 gallon 5% vinegar ($3), 16oz granular pool salt ($8 for 40lbs), big squirt of Dawn liquid soap (surfactant to make it stick to leaves). Unless you try to dissolve the salt in hot water first, it will take a couple weeks to dissolve in the vinegar (don't heat vinegar). I let mine dissolve in the garden sprayer for weeks until I’m ready to use. The saltier and stronger the vinegar the faster it works.
The new lighter colored leaves are the quickest to succumb to the spray. I sprayed mine, waited a couple week, ran the string trimmer across the top to remove some of the dead leaves, then sprayed again.
Once you successfully kill the entire plant and it is dry/brittle, then you have the root aftermath clean up. Rake it up, tiller the ground, then plant something else and never let the ivy come back to your yard.
If the ivy is climbing your trees, snip all the vines at tree base the again 2’ up the trunk then remove the section of ivy. The rest up in the tree will die and eventually fall off.
You could also go the more toxic route with a Glyphosate based herbicide with added surfactants to make it stick to glossy leaves. It will take multiple sprayings and weeks to reach the bottom underground root system and kill the plant.
Glyphosate is a rather harsh toxic chemical and has plenty of media coverage for negative impact on humans and pets.
Make the Payment:
If would rather throw some hard earned green paper at the problem, find a company that will guarantee completely killing the ivy. Ask them about removing the root systems after the ivy is dead too.
If would rather throw some hard earned green paper at the problem, find a company that will guarantee completely killing the ivy. Ask them about removing the root systems after the ivy is dead too.
Good luck and hope this helps!
Clint
PS - Using the DIY version on weeds, the deer show up a few days after application and eat the weeds. All gone!!
