Message Board - Pests, Weeds and Diseases: Ivy removal
12 Oct 2009 by Mike
Hello all,
At our prep site, we have a problem with ivy, amongst other things, that has gotten out of control over many years. It has now got to the stage that it has grown over one of our boundary walls and is encroaching onto a public footpath, and we have been asked to remove it by the government. In certain areas, the wall is over three metres high.
So, as far as I can see, I have three problems
Working at height
Working on a public footpath
Removal of the ivy.
The height and public footpath issues are sorted, but i'm not sure as to the best way to remove the ivy. What I don't want to do is comprimise the structural integrity of what is a very old wall.
Would anyone have any techniques/suggestions as to the best method of removing this problem?
Cheers
12 Oct 2009 by jlawrence Last edited 12 Oct 2009
Removing/killing Ivy is a f*****n night mare.
Firstly if it hasn't well attached itself to the wall yet you might be able to gently pull some of it off.
If you can't pull it off, cut the climbers low down and if you're VERY lucky you might be able to pull the climbers off the wall when they've died. Odds are that you're going to damage some of the pointing on the wall when removing the Ivy.
IIRC, Ivy won't affect the structural integrity of the wall whilst it's alive - it's the removal of the Ivy that causes the most damage.
To kill the stuff is very difficult. The waxy leaves help reduce the effectiveness of most herbicides.
Borax is supposed to work well. I've got some to try on an Ivy problem at home, but of course it won't be approved for use so your risk assessment would likely preclude it's use.
Glyphosate is supposed to work - I've never managed to get it to do anything other than just brown the leaves. I've a feeling that injecting glyphosate into the ivy might work - but spraying (in my limited experience) has little effect.
SBK is supposed to work (not sure if you've to mix it with parafin as if trying to kill a stump). I'm not sure what the pro version of this is but as it's made by vitax there'll likely be one.
One thing I can say with 100% certainty is that it's a b'tard to remove from in between my greenhouse and the wall next to it :(
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Oct 2009 by Ken Barber
Never had the problem, but just bought an property that has a 3 mt wall on two sides (part of a stable enclosure when the estate was owned by some wealthy dude many years ago) This wall has ivy on it and I intend in removing it over the next 6 months, so that I can plant some wisteria. My plan was to cut the climbers close to the ground, severing the stem from the root and let it die back naturally. Then remove by teasing it away from the wall and running a sharp broad bladed hoe up underneath the plant to cut the withered attachments of the ivy.
I can't see the government objecting to you removing the ivy over a period of months, since your reason would be not to damage the structure of the wall or obstruct the public right of way for too long at any one time?
Good luck Mike
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under who’s shade you do not expect to sit.
12 Oct 2009 by jlawrence
Forgot a couple of months to kill Ivy - more like a couple of years.
Cut the stuff back and it'll just grow again. It takes multiple treatments to try and kill the roots. Supposedly continually cutting back to the ground will eventually kill the root - but you've got to cut all of it back to the ground and it has a habit of appearing out of the ground a long way from where 'you' think the root is.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Oct 2009 by Mike
Well, thanks for the good news Jon 
I know it's going to be a nightmare. The footpath is about 300 metres long, and as the ivy has climbed over the wall, we are looking at parts that must be 5 metres in length! The ivy itself is very well established - I know for a fact that it hasn't been touched at all for the last fourty years.
Thanks for the pointers!
12 Oct 2009 by jlawrence
There's quite a bit on t'inetnet about trying to shift Ivy - some of it makes for an interesting read.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Oct 2009 by Mike Last edited 12 Oct 2009
Hi Ken,
We were initially given 14 days to remove the ivy! I managed to avoid this by applying for a road closure order (to close the footpath) which requires that 21 days notice is given before the closure takes effect, so I plan to attack it in the 2nd/3rd week in November. I did plan to carry out the work in two stages as the initial priority is to remove any obstruction from the footpath, and later in the year attack it again on our side of the wall to try to get to the roots. Only problem is that on our side of the wall, we have about 3-5 metres of ivy, bracken before you can even get to the wall - we are looking at a major undertaking.
Fortunately, the gov has been happy to work with me so far, and hopefully they will be patient whilst I try to get the overgrowth back under control.
Mike
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