How to KILL Ivy?

Guill

I am undertaking a restoration project of an old famine cottage. I had a conservation expert out to lhave a ook and one of the many, many, many tips he gave me was to make sure i kill the ivy before i go about cutting it. He said that when ivy is cut the roots swell and this may cause more damage to the masonary than there already is. I never got to ask him what to use to kill the ivy. Anyone here know what i could use and how to apply it? Would round-up do it and if so do i repeat applications? spray all leaves etc? ? Is the anything better around?

Thanks in advance folks.

blackharvester

as you said you can spray all the leaves with roundap an leave it to die completly, roundap will go by the leaves down to the root. but it will take couple of weeks. so you have to wait untill all ivy will be dead.
other weed killer which is strong and probably will do better job with ivy is SBK brushwood killer. you can get it in garden center, or hardware. it works this same way as roundap
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UiZg4xCxL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

or you can cut Ivy above ground and use SBK as root/stump killer. you will find instruction on the back of the bottle.

Antiquo

Guill wrote: »

I am undertaking a restoration project of an old famine cottage. I had a conservation expert out to lhave a ook and one of the many, many, many tips he gave me was to make sure i kill the ivy before i go about cutting it. He said that when ivy is cut the roots swell and this may cause more damage to the masonary than there already is. I never got to ask him what to use to kill the ivy. Anyone here know what i could use and how to apply it? Would round-up do it and if so do i repeat applications? spray all leaves etc? ? Is the anything better around?

Thanks in advance folks.

OP ivy has (as I'm sure you've noticed with the stuff all over your masonary) thousands of wee rootlets which in the main it utilises to cling onto things with. If you cut the ground root and walk away these rootlets go into overdrive searching for nourishment. The likelyhood is the ivy will find a source of nourishement in the old wall and as a result these roots will swell in the cracks causing further damage. Not going to happen overnight but will happen.

Weedkillers by and large are not effective against ivy due to the fact that the water/spray simply runs off the leaves. Round-up as with all weedkillers needs to be absorbed into the leaf in order to act.

Even if you did have some effect on the ivy with liberal applications of weedkillers you still have to remove it. The masonary has to be made good and all debris removed so that birds can no longer sow ivy in the wall.

IMO Cut out the weedkiller bit, dig out the ground roots entirely and this will prevent any regrowth. Then set about clearing the ivy from the walls. Once you get it started from the wall it comes off reasonably handy even on old masonary where it has really got into the wall.

Work down the wall from the top and use a spade to chop down any stubborn roots using the weight of the ivy to pull the rest off.

johno2

Spraying strong ivy plants with weedkiller isn't very effective. It's ok for controlling weaker ground ivy though. If the Ivy has some very strong stems (2 inches thick) you can drill a few holes in it halfway through the stem. Use a syringe or something similar to get some concentrate weedkiller into the holes and slap a bit of duct tape on it. Make sure the holes are pointing downwards obviously so the weedkiller can stay in the hole. The best place to do this is near the ground, easy to access and usually thicker stems there.

Concentrated weedkiller is dangerous stuff, make sure no kids or pets or valuable plants or anything else can get in contact with it. Wear gloves.

johno

paddy147

Glyposphate aka brushwood killer.

This stuff is expensive and it does kill any living thing it touches.

NAD sell it in 1 litre jars.

I used it to kill tree stumps and the underground roots stone dead.

Worked a treat

Guill

Got myself some concentrated brush killer. I did hear before of injecting the Ivy but i googled it for ages and found nothing, the stumps in place are fairly strong so i will try that there.

As regerds the smaller roots, if i was to damage the leave with a strimmer or even a switch and spray them would that allow the brush/weed killer to sink in?

bmaxi

Ivy has waxy leaves which don't readily take up weedkiller. I found the best solution, as recommended by a TV gardener, was to cut the ivy back and treat the new growth as it emerged. Horse for courses though

kylith

I've had success getting rid of ivy by cutting the main stem just above the ground and ripping down the tendrils. I've not needed to put anything on the stump to stop it regrowing, so far anyway.

If I could only sneak into my neighbour's garden and do that I'd be set...

johno2

paddy147 wrote: »

Glyposphate aka brushwood killer.

This stuff is expensive and it does kill any living thing it touches.

NAD sell it in 1 litre jars.

I used it to kill tree stumps and the underground roots stone dead.

Worked a treat

What's NAD?

johno

Edit: Coop shops sell Gallup 360 in 5 litre drums, there's lots of glyphosphate in it and it's not terribly expensive.

paddy147

johno2 wrote: »

What's NAD?

johno

Edit: Coop shops sell Gallup 360 in 5 litre drums, there's lots of glyphosphate in it and it's not terribly expensive.

NAD is an argicultural and gardening supplier business out at Blakes Cross junction at the turn off for Skerries,that specialise in stuff like this.

They mainly sell to the trade,but will sell to the public too.:)

They also sell various horticulrural products too,stuff like windbreak neting and sheeting and also alot of vegitable growing stuff too.

very good company and has alot of stuff in stock.:)

topsey

Try some diesel ( a half cup per knapsack) to cut through the wax the wax in the leaves with Glyphos mix.

If that fails get a goat!

bigbrotherfan

I hope the problem of the ivy has been solved long ago as it is 4 years ago sine the O.P. posted the thread.

Blackcurrants

You would want to be careful spraying diesel in your knapsack as it takes a long time to degrade an is toxic to some plants. I wonder would a natural soap do a similar job to the cuticle on ivy? Have to give it a go.

charlie14

topsey wrote: »

Try some diesel ( a half cup per knapsack) to cut through the wax the wax in the leaves with Glyphos mix.

If that fails get a goat!

I have heard this idea of adding diesel to mix in the knapsack, but as diesel and water do not mix I cannot see how it would be of any benefit.

Oldtree

charlie14 wrote: »

I have heard this idea of adding diesel to mix in the knapsack, but as diesel and water do not mix I cannot see how it would be of any benefit.

Yes... This notion does the rounds every now and then.

I intended to try the following after many discussions, including one with a stone mason, about how people have killed ivy in a similar situation to me with it growing on a stone cottage ruin, but I just havn't got round to it yet:

Damage the ivy leaves a bit with a few willow sticks.
Mix vegetable oil in a small hand pump sprayer with 3 times the regular dose of roundup mixed in and spray on a dry day on damaged leaves. I don't know yet if the veg oil and roundup will mix???

The idea us to break open the waxy layer a bit on the leaves but to still allow the leaves to function. The veg oil is to allow the roundup to adhere a bit better to the waxy leaves and then be absorbed.

I determined to try this idea so will do it and report back.

Lumen

Veg oil won't mix without an emulsifier.

Shefwedfan

Maybe the original poster could update, he posted in 2011 so hopefully he is now sitting in his warm renovated house and not a bit of ivy in sight......

Oldtree

Lumen wrote: »

Veg oil won't mix without an emulsifier.

Can you recommend a biodegradable /organic emulsifier?

magicbastarder

do i remember reading that mustard is an emulsifier?

edit: i did; http://www.ochef.com/1411.htm

Oldtree

magicbastarder wrote: »

do i remember reading that mustard is an emulsifier?

edit: i did; http://www.ochef.com/1411.htm

Now that was interesting. Did a little bit of Googling and it looks like dijon mustard would be the one to use.

It is looking like the recipe is shaping up to be

1 litre of thin veg oil,
60 ml of roundup,
Pinch of salt
And the equivalent of 30 ml of dijon mustard.
Will have to go and see how it comes, either in a paste or a powder.

Am going to mix the dijon and roundup first with a bit of salt until the salt is dissolved in a bowl.

Then pour in the veg oil slowly into the bowl and use a hand held blender until it looks mixed and use straight away having beaten the ivy leaves a bit first.

I can only hope at this stage that the resulting mix dosn't end up bring too thick for the sprayer.

Lumen

Oldtree wrote: »

Can you recommend a biodegradable /organic emulsifier?

Ecover washing up liquid.

Oldtree

Lumen wrote: »

Ecover washing up liquid.

That sounds better than a powder or a paste to mix in a spray, thanks will give it a go.

currants

Having removed it from my rendered house I recommend peeling it off from the top down before it dies back too much. If the little roots are still somewhat strong they will come away from the wall more easily in a mat than if you let it die back completely. If you leave it till the whole lot is dead then all the suckers stay on the wall and they are a total bugger to get off- we had the greatest, but still limited success burning them off with a weeding torch. Risky (we did a small patch at a time with the hose on standby)but still superior to soft washing or scraping/wire brushing. Painful experience has taught me that whoever invents an effective ivy removal system will be a billionaire

Oldtree

Lumen wrote: »

Ecover washing up liquid.

I have the ecover but it's to wet to try today.

Do you think a similar ratio to mustard would do or have you and idea of the ratio that would work?

Oldtree

currants wrote: »

Having removed it from my rendered house I recommend peeling it off from the top down before it dies back too much. If the little roots are still somewhat strong they will come away from the wall more easily in a mat than if you let it die back completely. If you leave it till the whole lot is dead then all the suckers stay on the wall and they are a total bugger to get off- we had the greatest, but still limited success burning them off with a weeding torch. Risky (we did a small patch at a time with the hose on standby)but still superior to soft washing or scraping/wire brushing. Painful experience has taught me that whoever invents an effective ivy removal system will be a billionaire

Working on it

my3cents

Oldtree wrote: »

Now that was interesting. Did a little bit of Googling and it looks like dijon mustard would be the one to use.

It is looking like the recipe is shaping up to be

1 litre of thin veg oil,
60 ml of roundup,
Pinch of salt
And the equivalent of 30 ml of dijon mustard.
Will have to go and see how it comes, either in a paste or a powder.

Am going to mix the dijon and roundup first with a bit of salt until the salt is dissolved in a bowl.

Then pour in the veg oil slowly into the bowl and use a hand held blender until it looks mixed and use straight away having beaten the ivy leaves a bit first.

I can only hope at this stage that the resulting mix dosn't end up bring too thick for the sprayer.

Isn't that a massively strong mix of glyphosate?

I've never had any problem killing ivy with glyphosate. You need to spray several times in a year but each time the plants become smaller until they die.

laros

Maybe the original poster could update, he posted in 2011 so hopefully he is now sitting in his warm renovated house and not a bit of ivy in sight......

Some pics here....
http://imgur.com/gallery/h1sKX

https://www.facebook.com/AghnananaghCottage?ref=bookmarks

Oldtree

my3cents wrote: »

Isn't that a massively strong mix of glyphosate?

I've never had any problem killing ivy with glyphosate. You need to spray several times in a year but each time the plants become smaller until they die.

It is, but that is the part of the recipe I was given by the stone mason. His recipe needed 2 sprays and ivy was gone from building. Must be that the larger amount ensures that glyphosate has better chance of getting into ivy.

CaraK

Oldtree wrote: »

Working on it

Any update 🙃

charlie14

Oldtree wrote: »

It is, but that is the part of the recipe I was given by the stone mason. His recipe needed 2 sprays and ivy was gone from building. Must be that the larger amount ensures that glyphosate has better chance of getting into ivy.

I have found the same.

90ml Grazon in a 15 liter backpack with 60ml lemon based washing up liquid in a fine spray, mid to late May followed by the same 4 to 6 weeks later kills it off.

Shemale

laros wrote: »

Some pics here....
http://imgur.com/gallery/h1sKX

https://www.facebook.com/AghnananaghCottage?ref=bookmarks

Deadly, fair play, I would have done the same. I love those old cottages