Does anyone know if the under ground roots are big enough to cuase structural damage if the plant is killed off? I know if you remove or kill a tree within 5m of a house water seeps back in and can cause heave.
SBK and roundup are bad enough let alone mixing them with paraffin or using vinegar, what else are you killing? I just cover mine with composted bark chippings and while a bit still comes up it is easy to dig it out. The only place I have a lot is on my neighbours fence. It has woven onto my side through the fence and is the only thing now holding the fence up. I cut it once a year using a hedge cutter with a sheet underneath so that I catch all the bits I cut off so they don't root on my side. I always do this once it has finished berrying as all the birds love it. I did once have a beautiful old elm stump covered in ivy and once it had finished flowering and berrying I cut it into a topiary shape. It obviously didn't like this idea and promptly died which I was rather upset about as it was the nicest ivy in the garden.
I have been reading this with interest as I have an old field hedge with lleyandii growing in it which was "invaded" by ivy years ago.
I had someone help in the garden last Summer and they thought to kill the ivy by cutting wrist-thick trunks at the base and poisoning them. Only problem was that the ivy was so well established that, by doing so, they forced the ivy to draw from the host hedge trees and this has caused the hedge to die wherever the ivy was sucking it dry!
This year I pulled out about ten "dumpy" bags of ivy, removing it ALL, and hope the hedge will one day recover. So- no, do not rely on merely cutting it at the base and hoping it will die away. If it is well and truly rooted on its host it will treat the host like soil.
Now to tackle the ivy roots under the decimated hedge in order to replant some hawthorn and field maple I lost... Will be drilling and filling...
I am fighting with some ivy right now. The roots are long but the crown could easily be chopped off. If I can get this off and cut off all the roots back as deep as I can will this stop it regrowinq.
Or to put it more simply could it grow again once the crown is removed or could it put out shoots from any remaining roots?
Apols for reviving this very old thread but it's the first thing to show up when I googled "how to kill ivy stump". I don't want to use herbicide and wonder if there's an organic way of doing it? I found this youtube video showing using salt to do it. Would like to hear what people think of it please:
Why would you want to poison your garden with salt? Salt is a chemical too, and it’s far more damaging to the soil and the invertebrates living in it than a herbicide designed specifically for the purpose.
My brother is a farmer and some of his farmland was flooded with salt seawater from a river estuary some years ago. It took years for the soil to recover before he could grow any crops there.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
ivy all along one of my fences. I live with it. I snip anything that encroaches horizontally at ground level, leave the flowers and fruits for whatever wants them higher up and slice the top off in the summer. But then I'm a laissez faire / lazy gardener. And I quite like an ivy wall.
Why would you want to poison your garden with salt? Salt is a chemical too, and it’s far more damaging to the soil and the invertebrates living in it than a herbicide designed specifically for the purpose.
My brother is a farmer and some of his farmland was flooded with salt seawater from a river estuary some years ago. It took years for the soil to recover before he could grow any crops there.
Good point. We are keeping and living with most of the ivy which still covers 2/3 of the wall, but have cleared a patch along the wall so we can grow some other climber on it. Now there's an ivy stump left in the ground which has regrown massively over the last few months.
Seems like digging it out is the way to go then.
I don't even want to start thinking about all the ivy roots underground in my garden....
Posts
SBK mixed double strength with paraffin instead of water will definitely do the job. especially good when new leaves present.
Hi
Does anyone know if the under ground roots are big enough to cuase structural damage if the plant is killed off? I know if you remove or kill a tree within 5m of a house water seeps back in and can cause heave.
Thanks
SBK and roundup are bad enough let alone mixing them with paraffin or using vinegar, what else are you killing? I just cover mine with composted bark chippings and while a bit still comes up it is easy to dig it out. The only place I have a lot is on my neighbours fence. It has woven onto my side through the fence and is the only thing now holding the fence up. I cut it once a year using a hedge cutter with a sheet underneath so that I catch all the bits I cut off so they don't root on my side. I always do this once it has finished berrying as all the birds love it. I did once have a beautiful old elm stump covered in ivy and once it had finished flowering and berrying I cut it into a topiary shape. It obviously didn't like this idea and promptly died which I was rather upset about as it was the nicest ivy in the garden.
I have been reading this with interest as I have an old field hedge with lleyandii growing in it which was "invaded" by ivy years ago.
I had someone help in the garden last Summer and they thought to kill the ivy by cutting wrist-thick trunks at the base and poisoning them. Only problem was that the ivy was so well established that, by doing so, they forced the ivy to draw from the host hedge trees and this has caused the hedge to die wherever the ivy was sucking it dry!
This year I pulled out about ten "dumpy" bags of ivy, removing it ALL, and hope the hedge will one day recover. So- no, do not rely on merely cutting it at the base and hoping it will die away. If it is well and truly rooted on its host it will treat the host like soil.
Now to tackle the ivy roots under the decimated hedge in order to replant some hawthorn and field maple I lost... Will be drilling and filling...
I am fighting with some ivy right now. The roots are long but the crown could easily be chopped off. If I can get this off and cut off all the roots back as deep as I can will this stop it regrowinq.
Or to put it more simply could it grow again once the crown is removed or could it put out shoots from any remaining roots?
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
Thanks!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Seems like digging it out is the way to go then.
I don't even want to start thinking about all the ivy roots underground in my garden....