Weedkiller

Gardening
41

Well, a bit of belated feedback on the ‘Battle of the Ivy’.

Having listened to the feedback I received above, I invested on a new special digging spade with a sharp specially-shaped head for cutting through roots, a pick-axe and a grape hoe (?) and set about the task.

Where the ivy was growing up a wall, I cut it at ground level and again about a foot higher and removed the ivy in between, and kept cutting until I could see a clear ivy-free band.

Then I cut the ivy and saplings and weeds as tight as I could to the ground and set to work with the aforementioned tools. It took perhaps a week to clear the affected area of tangled stubborn roots. Invariably I didn’t get every single shred of root but what I did remove probably amounts to 10-15 years of growth.

I found the work tough but enjoyable. It took a week to do what I could have done in a day as a younger man. That’s life :man_white_hair:

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42

I did a similar, protracted job on the ivy growing up our large shed in the back garden. I removed all the growth above ground and then dug out an area about 1.5m from the ivy to a depth of about 20 cm and pulled up every shallow root. I was then left with three deep roots where the ivy grew from. I made a small plastic hollow cone, cut the sharp end off so it would just go over the cut root, filled the cone with salt, added a few drops of water and then sealed it all up using a plastic bag and waterproof tape. The salt kills the root eventually but it does take about six months. Did all this four years ago and there isn’t any renewed growth at all. It’s really hard job, but the only sure fire way of getting rid of ivy entirely.

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