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
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