Aggressive ivy

 

For years we have had a small patch of ivy with small very dark green
leaves and light veins - the classic sort of ivy. This has been no
problem.

But this year there has been an explosion of an aggressive ivy with
larger narrow leaves of a lighter green. I must admit we have
neglected it a bit and it has shot up the side of our single story
outhouse and started to climb across the roof.

I've just been out and started to pull it down, but it is well
established and there has been a lot of snapping of stems.

No doubt it will just start growing again.

Is there a way to kill the roots? .... preferably without killing the
darker green ivy that it was intertwined with?

 




You will need a "systemic weedkiller" that gets taken down into the roots
(eg one based on glyphosate such as Roundup) . It's important to follow the
instructions. Usually this means allowing the weeds to grow for say 1 week.
Then hit them with the weedkiller and then wait for them to start dying
back. Only then can you pull or dig them out. You have to allow time for the
weed to take the weedkiller into the roots.

You may have to apply it using a paintbrush if you want to preserve the dark
ivy!

 



I've been trying to kill ivy on and off for years now as I can stand another
foray into the patch.  I've found that glyphosate does absolutely nothing to
kill ivy.

The only thing I've found that works is blackberry and tree killer and the
active ingredient in that is Triclopyr 50g/L and to that I add a dash of
kerosene and a drop or 2 of dishwahing liquid to break up the waxy coating
on the leaves.  That works but also ocassionally needs a second dose.

 


My guess is that this is not a different ivy but just the explosion of
growth of the original ivy, lighter green because it is growing fast to
cover ground. A lot of plants (including ivy) have different leaves at
different ages or different growth stages, so the difference in leaf
shape is not significant.

Ivy tends to grow slowly for the first few years and then take off. You
may have just reached the stage where you begin to wonder if a less
vigorous climber would have been a better idea ;-)

If they light green ivy is indeed just a growth spurt of the dark green,
then obviously using a systemic weedkiller on the light green will also
kill the dark green.

(I'm in the process of getting rid of most of  my ivy for a similar
reason)
--
Kay

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I've come across the
blackberry and tree killer before. I'll keep an eye open for it. I
bought some crystals a few years back which if sprinkled onto the
stump of a cut-down tree will kill the roots and stop it growing again
- that seemed to work quite well. Would this be effective on ivy if I
could sprinkle some crystals onto the cut stems just where they come
out of the ground?

I did some further searching and found comments that the waxy coating
of ivy leaves repels systemic weedkillers, as mentioned here too. But
it can help to crush the leaves underfoot or "with a spade" which
apparently allows the weedkiller to get into the leaves.


I'm surprised to hear that. I think it is a different type. We have
had only the tiny three-forked dark green leaf type for the last 17
years and the new stuff is a quite new, although next door had it last
year, and it has run amok over the side of their house and outhouse.
The leaves are long eye-shaped and lighter green, and it stands up
from the surface and waves in the breeze.