Getting rid of ivy (and other creepers!)

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gd2000

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I've recently bought a house which has a rather overgrown garden. In the end of the back garden, there is ivy growing, which is now climbing up the back wall of the house... I want to get rid of it, but my surveryor mentioned that simply cutting it at the root won't work - I need to kill the roots by putting something on them...

Does anyone have any suggestions / experience with this? There are a couple of other creeping bushes / plants that I'd also like to destroy in the back garden!

Thanks in advance...
 
we bought an older house on a wild garden too. a lot of it is still wild.
Mr June took out a petrol hedge trimmer to a lot of the shrubs (anytime I went out of range!) We did get a gardener in with a mini digger and he cleared out unwanted shrubs in no time. you couldn't get at those roots.He also cut ivy stalks on a big tree and it did kill off most of it.
Enjoy!
 
Try sprinkling a substance called Brushwood or Root Out (available at Woodies) on the cut stumps; having first scored the stumps with a hack saw or something to allow for better penetration of the stuff. It's a good idea to then cover the stump with black plastice for a few weeks; this make sure it's not washed away and prevents light entering. I was successful in removing old hedging with this method.
 
ophelia said:
Try sprinkling a substance called Brushwood or Root Out (available at Woodies) on the cut stumps; having first scored the stumps with a hack saw or something to allow for better penetration of the stuff. It's a good idea to then cover the stump with black plastice for a few weeks; this make sure it's not washed away and prevents light entering. I was successful in removing old hedging with this method.
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I agree but before I cut back ivy etc. I'd spray the leaves with round-up or another similar product. These are supposed to kill the roots as well as the poison is taken up through the leaves. As old ivy is notoriously difficult to get rid of, when plant looks dead (about 2/3 weeks), I'd cut it down and follow Ophelia's advice above. I think September is the best time to treat large tree/shrub stumps though.
 
A good product for the purpose of killing stumps is a product called “Dax Root-out” which contains ammonium sulpamate.
This product can be safely used around more prized planting providing it is applied to just the cut stump of the plant to be removed.
It has the added benefit of actually adding nitrogen to your soil rather than leaving a nasty residue.

The Ideal time for application is during May-June and directly after the cutting back the climber, but I have had good results at other times of the year.
Drill a slightly slanting hole approx 2.5cm (1 inch) diameter as deep as is possible into the top of the stump, that is if the stump is wide enough.
Also make downward axe slashes into the bark on the sides of the stump approx 2.5cm (1 inch) deep if possible.

Next pack the “Dax Root-out crystals into these wounds.
Finally cover the stump with a clear plastic cover to prevent dilution of the crystals with rainwater, leave this in place for 1 month.

If you cannot find “Dax Root-out” in the garden centres you can also use “SBK Brushwood Killer” or “Round-up” although these are in liquid form and must be painted onto the plants open wounds.
Under no circumstance employ the old method of applying diesel as a stump killer, this will definitely leave a residue in the soil to affect plantings.
A stump killing product will take approx 7 weeks to totally kill the plant, but for the stump to decompose completely can take in excess of 3 years.
Of course it may be possible to dig the stump out after a year.
 
We have suffered terribly with ivy in our garden for years. Tried chemicals, cutting back but it always came back with vengeance along thousands of snails. It grew amongst established plants and was very hard to kill. Last spring we literally attacked the ivy, cut it back and dug up every single piece of root and suckery bits. Touch wood we got no ivy now and we intend to rip it up if any appears.
 
agree with tinkerbell, having purchased a house where garden was completely choked with ivy... get the root. The areas where I did (ie clear) and didnt (ie growing back) are now becoming obvious.
 
Cheers guys - some very useful advice... I'll post back with my experience when I can...
 
Took me the best part of two full weekends to rid out back wall (probably c. 8M wide or maybe less) of two ivy trees that had been growing since we moved in over a decade ago. What an ordeal! Still haven't gotten around to killing the roots though.
 
ClubMan said:
Took me the best part of two full weekends to rid out back wall (probably c. 8M wide or maybe less) of two ivy trees that had been growing since we moved in over a decade ago. What an ordeal! Still haven't gotten around to killing the roots though.
Click to expand...

:eek: Do it asap, unless you want to spend another weekend in a few weeks time!
 
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