introducing my self and question about (Poisen?) Ivy

[Reg]

Hi There, I am new to the gardening game having just bought my first house with a reasonable sized garden. I have quite a bit of Ivi growing over the house getting in between weather boards and smothering very large tress, I have tried spraying with roundup, have waited nearly 2 weeks and the Ivy seems unifected.....Does anyone have any alternative suggestions ???

[rainbowgardener]

Hi Reg and welcome to the forum. So glad you found us. I took the liberty of moving your post to a different section where more people will find it, since you did have a question and not everyone reads the introductions.

To start with are you sure that it is poison ivy? That trick of coming in houses and smothering trees sounds more like regular English ivy. Here's a picture of what the leaves of English ivy look like:

https://www.plantaficionado.com/pictures/english-ivy.jpg

Here's a picture of poison ivy:

https://z.about.com/d/landscaping/1/0/Z/C/young_green_leaves.jpg

The poison ivy leaves are always in sets of three like that.

The methods of control are different, especially since you can't TOUCH the poison ivy.

I have plenty of both on my property. The English ivy responds pretty well to being cut back and then stripped out. Cut all the stems where they start to grow up trees or into houses or other places you don't want. Anywhere above the cut will die and then can be peeled off once dead. Then after a rain or watering when the ground is soft, take the bottom part that is still attached and just start tracing it back, digging and pulling as you go, getting as much of the roots out as you can. You inevitably will not get all of the roots, but it does set it back pretty hard and if you keep vigilant about pulling sprouts that come back, you can eliminate it this way.... big job at first but I've done it.

The poison ivy though really I still use Round up on. The fact that yours hasn't responded to the Roundup is another argument that it's really English ivy which is tougher skinned. You can always try a repeat application.

PS Congratulations on your first house and welcome to the joys of home ownership!

[tomf]

I have never seen poison ivy in the NW I have seen it in the Midwest. We get posing oak out here but it would normally not be as far north as you are.

English Ivy is a woody plant and to kill it you need to use Crossbow. The best killing combo is to mix Crossbow and Roundup together. Mix both of them full strength in the same water. What I am saying is in one gallon of water put Crossbow in full strength and round up full strength. Add some soap or mineral oil to help it stick, about 2 table spoons per gallon.
Be carefull not to let it get on any other plants, the trunks of trees will not be hurt.

[rainbowgardener]

Tom, thanks for seconding my suggestion that this is probably not poison ivy.

English ivy is listed as a noxious weed in many locations. It has woody stems and waxy leaves and is not very susceptible to herbicides (as OP has already found). If you are going to use poisons, as Tom noted adding a surfactant, soap or detergent, will help cut through the waxy layer to make the herbicide work better.

Here's an article about ivy control:

https://www.soundnativeplants.com/PDF/English%20ivy.PDF

It suggests doing the herbicide treatment in Jan. Other plants will be defoliated and therefore not as susceptible to accidental kill with your herbicide.

Ivy is also vulnerable to being mowed. If there is ivy in an area you can mow, just keeping it mowed for awhile will get rid of the ivy (except of course it will still have roots all around the outside of that area ready to start infiltrating again as soon as you quit).

If it is not in an area you can mow, the cut and strip method works as well as anything and believe me I have tried a variety of things! It's more labor intensive than herbicide, but way less destructive in the environment (and contributes to your physical fitness, what more can you ask! )

[tomf]

I have had good results with the Crossbow and Round up mix, Round up only makes woody plants sick and does not usaly kill them but Crossbow is made for woody plants and when you add them to gether they work real well. This mix works well on blackberries also.

[Reg]

Hi Guys

Thank you both so much for your advice.

It seems that I have English not posion ivy as you suspected, so I have cut the vines around the house & trees & am waiting for them to die back.

One thing I would like to know is how long after treating an area of your garden with round up would you recomend waiting to replant?

All the best
Reg

[rainbowgardener]

Round up is recommended because it is not very persistent in the soil. Six weeks should be plenty. However, if you are doing the treatment now, six weeks will make it well into winter. I don't imagine you will be planting anything then ? Treat it now and probably again at the end of winter and you will be fine to plant in spring.

[tomf]

If I find ivy when I am out walking I cut it and pull the roots up if I can. Some times I will come back and spray it but I try not to us to much poison.

[MysticGardener67]

with both english and poison ivy or any other woddy vines

Your machete can be your friend. I like to wet my machete with a bit of either crossbow or roundup and use my machete to remove a section of the vien with it. The roundup/crossbow will transfer from the blade to the vascular tissues of the vine. if I feel the need, I will then take a little of the brushkiller on a duisposable sponge brush and dab it into the fresh cut.

Umm just how bad an ivy infest ation do you have?

[MysticGardener67]

if you are iffy about herbacides, bes you can do is cut the vines about a foot from the ground, stip the old vines out as best you can without causeing structural damage tou your house then dig out the root system by hand. Yes it is labor insive, but is only way to be dead certain that you get it all out without having to deal with the chemicals.

Next season, you will have to keep an eye out for new growth. any new leaves can be painted with crossbow and a sponge brush. don't forget the rubber gloves and the eye protectuion.

[cynthia_h]

I used to have an ongoing war with English Ivy in Berkeley (17 years of war, quarterly battles). The problem was that I had to leave some of it because it was holding up a very old fence.

I cut it back, stuffing all the leaves, twigs, branches, etc. into lawn/leaf bags--STRONG ones--and then pulled the runners out of the ground. I then poured boiling water on the ground where the runners had come out, to discourage any new runners.

If I'd been able to wage a war of annihilation, it would have been easier, I think. Having to leave a certain amount of the enemy in place because of the fence (neighbors were adamant that this decrepit fence remain in place; it was leaning onto our property at something like 20 degrees from the vertical) limited my options.

Elsewhere in the yard, though, where ivy wasn't needed or allowed, "scorched"--no, make that "boiled earth" was the order of the day.

Cynthia
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[MysticGardener67]

Is the reson that neighbor doesnt want to replace fence is because neighbor doesn't want to pay for it or is it a sentamental thing?

We had a similar issue with the property oenr behind my mother's. Finally ended the battle by offering to pay for the fencing ourselves.

[cynthia_h]

We moved away from that house in 1997. The neighbors were borderline (?) mentally ill; there was no getting any sense out of them. They wanted the fence to stay, and that was that. Money didn't mean anything; we offered to pay for the whole thing. No go.

I think they liked the fact that it was leaning onto OUR property; they got increased sunlight. If they were in fact able to reason that well....

And it was the City of Berkeley, where if a neighbor says no, you have to go through the Planning Committee (or, at least, you did then) to get a special permit--yep, for a fence.

We faced west. The northern fence never *did* get replaced (the "ivy" fence). The eastern fence did; it was a rental property with an absentee owner. The renters were ecstatic! The southern fence was also replaced--another rental property.

Cynthia

[MysticGardener67]

Nothing like the combination of absenteeism and neighbors that are half a bubble off of level. )

[tomf]

I like the idea of dabbing Crossbow on your blade and on the stem of the Ivy as this will cut down on the Poisson you use. I like to use less Poisson but you have to understand Ivy is very bad and will kill trees if left alone. I have seen forests devastated by Ivy. It becomes the better of 2 evils.
Crossbow is what works on woody plants; Roundup does not work that well on them. Both of them together in a mix is what the logging companies use and works the best.

Also if the Ivy is on your house or some thing you do not want damaged then wait untill it is dead and dry to pull it off.