Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] How to kill Ivy?

13 February 2012

Re: [DIY] How to kill Ivy?

I have a

tiller and I will try that also...so another good thought.....but the Ivy was planted here in 1999 and the stems and main branches (which I hired two guys to cut down ) are about 1 inch in diamater at least and all they did was cut these main stems /not really stems...... but still have massive branche about 6 -to 12 inches above the ground. They where supposed to be dug up them by their roots too.........but they decided the work was too hard for them although they where getting paid $25 an hour and I suppose they had easier work to do .

Oh , well, now I have to figure out how to do this myself.

Tennesse has not had a regular winter this year......until a few days ago........now it's freezeing cold out there......so I am only trying to say many things here started growing and blooming a month too early here and I see the Ivy comeing back again ..along with the Daffodils, the frogs in the ponds even came out of hryber-nation and now going back into their mud holes again, lol. .

I am a 65 year old female but I am stubborned and I will somehow defeat this dang Ivy some how , some way!!!!!!!!

And I certainly appreciate all of the advice and help I've received on this list goup......I am takeing it all in..

----- Original Message -----

From: S_Wilson

To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 6:39 PM

Subject: Re: [DIY] How to kill Ivy?

Another opinion of what to do was to dig the whole area up and pull all the roots you could find. A rototiller would be a good tool for that.
That reminded me of what I did to get rid of dandelions. I don't think ivy is in the same league as dandelions though. Ivy is much more like crab grass in its root system. Dandelions aren't linked and grow very slowly.
I was having a frustrating period at work, so what I found to do as a therapy to help with the stress was to go out and dig the dandelions out, one by one. It took me me several weeks but after several passes going row by row on my knees I got every single dandelion. It really worked well on the stress too. Never saw another dandelion in my lawn again. I got really good at spotting a dandelion and a method for digging them out. Must have pulled a couple of thousand of them. Made a huge difference in my attitude at work at the time.
Steve

On 2/12/2012 4:20 PM, sandaidh wrote:

I suspect that, with the black plastic over the ivy roots, they may do what
my trumpet vine did after I took it down. The roots will sprout elsewhere.
Keep in mind that the roots you see are only a small portion of the whole
root system. And that plant *wants* to survive.

Ironically enough, just before reading your post, I was looking through my
latest issue of The Family Handyman magazine. In it is a small article
titled - Poison your ivy, not your shrub. They suggest buying a few floral
water tubes. Fill the tubes with a little herbicide (like Roundup) and
replace the rubber cap on the top to keep out rain and pets. Then stick
the tube in the ground beside the vine, and stick the tip of the vine into
the tube. The vine will "drink up" the herbicide, right down to the roots
and should die within a few days.

Wish I'd thought of that.

So you might want to let the ivy grow enough to stick the new growth ends
into some floral tubes (available at florist suppliers and/or nurseries). A
lot easier than digging and pretty much guarenteed to get all the roots.
And should take a lot less time than my method of dealing with the trumpet
vine. I kept cutting down every shoot I came across. When they came up in
the lawn, the lawn mower cut them down nicely, otherwise I used pruning
shears. It's taken about 6 years, from the initial removal of the vine,
however last summer was the first in which I saw *no* runners/sprouts
anywhere in the yard.

Hope this helps.

Sandaidh bean-fhigheadair a' bhreacain
sandaidh@localnet.com