Well it seems the house I bought in TN had an owner that liked Ivy growing all over the place. I have it under my deck, on the rails, on the house, up a lot of different trees etc. I see it has grown so thick on some trees it has gone over the top. Is there a way to save them? I know two of them are starting to rot, because the branches ar falling off rotted. They are Oak trees mainly.
Also besides scorched earth what is the easiest way to get rid of it.
The ground around my place is like a concrete road, I have my work cut for me on making it grow grass.
I'd love to hear about some 'easy way' to get rid of English Ivy.
Here in Raleigh NC it pervades everything (in our neighborhood at least), and left unchecked will eventually choke out large mature trees (it seems). The vines going up the tree trunks can require a saw as they can become as thick as my forearm; no hand held loppers will cut through these. Someone please me tell there is a narrow spectrum weed killer that will rid the state (and neighboring states) of this invasive species.
On trees, we have removed a 2' band of the ivy (completely) all the way around the trunk; everything above above that dies off eventually and it rains ivy leaves. Unless you remove the roots, this stuff will be back before you turn around, so we then return regularly to cut off new sprouts moving up the trunk. Removing the vines AND pulling up roots is the only way we know of to keep this at bay. If your neighbor does not do the same, it will be a constant and regular routine.
get stump killer from a farm supply store. Cut the ivy near the ground, be sure to cut all of the sprouts/vines. Immediately apply the stump killer to the fresh cut. It will move down into the roots. it will not harm the tree the ivy is climbing. It can be lots of labor but it works. You will still need to remove the dead growth above the cut after it has dried. May take a year for some of the large ones to be brittle enough to pull off.
Yeah. Same thing here. I have a 1.25 acre city lot and at least 2/3 of it is still "natural" with tree cover. And scattered all over is that damned ivy and it is nearly impossible to control. Girdling the vines where they start up the trunk does work but you have to keep at it since it recovers so quickly and it all too easy to miss a thin strand hidden in the bark's crevices. Herbicide does work but it is not as easy as simply spraying since the ivy has a waxy cuticle on the mature leaves which simply repels the spray. I use an industrial-strength weed and brush killer bought from the local farmer's coop and add a wetting agent (Dawn washing up liquid) to the spray which helps it wet the leaves and get inside. Even that requires multiple applications. These plants are tough!
You must kill the roots as well. I had the same issue with Fox Grape in our trees; vines as thick as an arm.
Method: Get stump or brush killer concentrate. Instead of cutting the vines, drill one or more 3/8 or 1/2" holes about 3" deep in the main vine, and use a small funnel to fill the holes with the poison concentrate straight from the container. The plant will do the rest by pumping the chemical up and back down into the root system, and you get better circulation that painting a stump. When the plant dies (takes 1-2 weeks) you can pull it out of both the tree and the ground with a stout rope and a car hitch.
No spraying or wide application involved here
Cutting the regrowth is a never-ending story. Once you kill the roots, that plant ain't coming back.
We have English ivy on our trees. I worried for a long time that the ivy would damage the tree. Our arborist assured me that the ivy doesn't damage the tree directly. It does, however increase the wind resistance, especially when it gets into the crown of the tree, and dramatically increases the risk of blowdown. We girdle the ivy 8 to 10 feet above ground level, pull the dead vines down when they dry and turn loose and leave the rest alone. We do this every 3 or 4 years, or as needed to keep the ivy in check. I hate the stuff, but my wife loves it, so we keep it. We have it growing on out house in several places. I have an arrangement with LOML about it. She keeps it cut back. If she doesn't, I poison it. It has worked so far.
Girdle at ground level...immediately!!! apply herbicide to kill roots, best within short minutes. Add a bit of Ritz die to track the application.
The ivy vines don't hurt the trees usually. Other spiecies of vines do grow and choke though.
Windsail is an issue. More of an issue is weight of the vines and how much rainwater they hold on the surface!! Think of dumping a five gallon bucket out on the driveway. It sheets and covers the drive like rain covers vines. That's 40#!!!
It's a rare arborist that doesn't spit when asked about vines. Kill 'em all!
So getting a propane touch and just burning them down is a bad thing(-;
Thanks I am in NYC this week and will be getting back to clearing them out when I get home next Saturday. The stuff around the house on the ground is small. The stuff in some of the trees is large and I will try the stump killer idea on them. If not I am going to Nuke them all and let Mother Nature sort it out
When I want to be careful about what the herbicide hits and doesn't hit, I sometimes use a $1.00 cheap cotton mop and a one gallon bucket rather than a sprayer. You can get pretty good coverage too. It's the same principle as a farmer using wipers on row crops instead of spraying.
Also, if you can coat the under side of the leaves it will work better and add some dish detergent or Spreader Sticker to the mix. The soap or sticker may help it penetrate the waxy coating.
Aside from that, the best idea may be to cut the vines and directly coat the ends of the cuts with full strength poison such as brush killer or Roundup concentrate. Use a small brush or foam applicator. Wear proper gloves.
I have never bought Roundup. Glyphosate concentrate from a farm store is a fraction of the cost of Roundup (which contains glyphosate as the active ingredient). I also buy surfactant and red or blue dye at the farm store. A surfactant reduces the surface tension and allows the chemical to coat the leaves better instead of beading up on some types of leaves. Soap will work as a surfactant. The dye lets me see where I've applied and where I've missed.
For those spraying around grass keep in mind there is an herbicide 2-4-D which will kill broadleaf plants but not most grasses. (2-4-D works wonders on toxic weeds like buttercup.) However, note that many herbicides like this are for emerging plants - gotta hit them at the right time in the spring.
Also, these mostly need to be applied when there is no chance of rain for a given time, about 4 hours I think (without looking it up.)
Best way I know to get rid of most plants is dig them up by the roots.
Note that I am certainly no expert on this but what I found that works for me. I never tried killing english ivy.
and she went to a website that said it was English Ivy. I am in Long Island NY right now so I can not confirm what it looks like. I just know it needs to go away. I hate any type of vine growing on my house or into trees.
