English Ivy.....arghhhhhh!!!

[doug hodder]

Someone prior to my purchasing this home decided that some ivy would just be a great asset to the landscaping....well, now it's years later and that's not the case. Currently I have 4 trees completely inundated with it and with the weather this last year, it's gone crazy. I've pulled it off the garage over the years, but it's creeping all over the place along with some out of control blackberries. The trees are trash trees, so a chain saw is the answer for them.

As far as the ground portion, I've been mowing it, pulling it out by the roots etc....but it's a never ending battle. It's covered the garage walls, fences, trees, and lately has made it's way to the fish ponds I have in the yard. It laughs at a weedeater, but then I don't have one with a saw blade on it.

Not wanting to battle it anymore....what herbicide has anyone used to take care of it? In one of my sheds, there are about 5 cans of Triox when I moved in, maybe pre-1970 (since the label says 2.49$) a pint, when it was the real deal, and I'm sure it's incredibly illegal in Ca now. I didn't use it when I had a dog, but now, I'm thinking why not.

Nowadays, any herbicide sold in Ca. isn't worth a hoot. I'm ready for an air strike of agent orange! What have others done to get rid of this pest? Thanks in advance. Doug

[Kevin A]

http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping ... control-2/

[caseydog]

That stuff is awful. My parents bought a house in Houston that was covered with it. We spent a weekend pulling it off and killing it. Down there, it is a cockroach breeding heaven. My sister's job was to spray roaches with RAID as we pulled the ivy down. She used up several cans.

If you can get it down to short vines at ground level, you can kill it off with Roundup, or a similar herbicide. That's what we did.

The stuff way up in the trees that we could not get down died off once it lost its connection to the ground.

Under the ivy was a very pretty French chateau style house, with a nice garden and very nice trees.

CD

[doug hodder]

Thanks guys....I checked out the site Kev....drained the ponds tonight, plan is to reconfigure them...gonna hit the ivy with the mower set short this weekend...dump on a load of the nastiest toxic crap I can get my hands on, maybe need to run up to Nevada to get the "good stuff", maybe try my used paints/reducers mixed in my storage can....might work....sorry, I'm not "green" die, Ivy die..... Doug

[eamarquardt]

I'm a big believer in "chemical gardening" or "better living through chemistry". 2-4 D, Round up, Grass Getter, Monterey Weed Hoe, and Turflon Ester all have places in my heart.

I'd go for the Round Up treatment. As it has to be absorbed through the leafy part of the plant, I'd spray the ivy without mowing it. As the Round up takes effect, the ivy will dehydrate and be easier to mow and get rid of. I've never tried to eradicate ivy but Round Up has worked as described above on everything I've used it on. Great stuff!

Cheers,

Gus

[hotrod]

Ill second the round up....
I have been battling off and on for 2 years with creeping charlie in my grass.. its maddening..i sprayed about a month ago with TRIMEC a 2-4-D blend for broadleaves and it said it was supposed to kill creeping charlie.. it worked over some dandilions pretty good and never touched the charlie. I love my lawn and i cant roundup it and start over, not that ambitious.. lol any suggestions on a store bought homeowner available chemical for creeping charlie???

[caseydog]

Doug, don't mow it down all the way. Like Gus said, herbicides like Roundup need some leaf surface to be effective. They do not work at or below the soil surface.

I would cut and remove down to about 4-6 inches, and spray what's left. Wait a few days, and spray it again. Give it time to kill off the roots, then mow it down to the ground.

Be patient, and kill the roots.

CD

[planovet]

Doug, don't mow it down all the way. Like Gus said, herbicides like Roundup need some leaf surface to be effective. They do not work at or below the soil surface.

I would cut and remove down to about 4-6 inches, and spray what's left. Wait a few days, and spray it again. Give it time to kill off the roots, then mow it down to the ground.

Be patient, and kill the roots.

That pretty much sums it up

[caseydog]

BTW, Doug, it's not just California. Most of the old chemicals are gone here, too, and others are only available to licensed users.

A lot of those great old chemicals were overused and misused for years. Now, we can't get them, or they are only available to licensed professionals.

CD

[Alleged User]

When we moved into our home last summer, I thought the little patch of ivy running alongside the driveway in the front yard was charming. Three months later, as I was raking like a banshee trying in vain to get all the candy wrappers and fallen leaves out of there, I knew its days were numbered. Crap's a venus flytrap, completely impervious to all grooming tools. All I could do was get on my hands and knees and pull each leaf and bit of detritus out one by one. So a few weeks ago, Duke suited up and flew at it, and he managed to get all the ivy out. Fortunately, it was only that little patch...I don't envy your infestation. Godspeed, man.

They do make a Round Up especially for vines...I used it years ago with some success. If I lived in the country, I wouldn't mind as much, because ivy is pretty, but here in the 'burbs, where every square inch of gardening space is coveted (by me, anyway), I can't justify it.

[High Desert]

Doug, a cousin that lives in WA has used a product called Brush-B-Gone on blackberry bushes and says it works really well. His property was over run with the darn stuff and it looks good now. Might be worth checking out, if it kill NW blackberry it should kill anything.

[Jiminsav]

get a goat?

[starleen2]

get a goat?

[angib]

So why do you call it English Ivy?

You guys are as bad as us Brits - if there's anything negative, we will generally put the adjective 'French' in front of it, just to show why we don't blame ourselves...

Nicest one is the euphemism 'French letter' for a condom - the traditional French euphemism for the same thing used to be 'capot Anglaise' ('English hat').

[caseydog]

So why do you call it English Ivy?

You guys are as bad as us Brits - if there's anything negative, we will generally put the adjective 'French' in front of it, just to show why we don't blame ourselves...

Nicest one is the euphemism 'French letter' for a condom - the traditional French euphemism for the same thing used to be 'capot Anglaise' ('English hat').

Hedera helix (Common Ivy, English Ivy) is a species of ivy native to most of Europe and western Asia.

It is not really meant to be a slander, and isn't in the minds of people who like it. But, it is like bamboo or mint -- it takes over a landscape if allowed to.

And, I rather like English muffins, or as you call them, "muffins."

CD