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Northwestern Gardening

Battle to get rid of Ivy and Vinca -what to do so I can plant?

16 years ago

The front bed in our yard has been taken over by ivy and vinca. I've removed most of what was above the ground but am now wondering what to do with the remainder. I've heard the following suggestions:

- put down newspaper and several inches of bark mulch and let it kill the ivy and vinca over the summer, then plant new in the fall

- use round-up on the new shoots

- pull out the roots by hand, plant this spring, and then keep pulling anything new that comes up (someone at the nursery said I may risk pulling up new plantings as well?)

Also, wondered about the yeddo hawthorn shrubs in the front. The ivy and vinca have completely rooted under them. Do I remove these shrubs (they're in o.k. condition, not great) if I'm trying to get rid of the ivy and vinca completely?

Thanks so much in advance for any tips/thoughts you may have.

before:

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after:

{{gwi:25766}}

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Comments (6)

katy122
16 years ago
Casey...
Get rid of "them their roots"! I just went through this last summer, we removed a good sized fir tree in our backyard that was too close to the house, we had a 7foot area around the tree that was all "vinca"....I am not a lover of round up or other poisons that are available so I just started digging, you have the same problem concerning ivy...you got to get them roots!!
dottyinduncan
16 years ago
We had/have a similar problem with St. John's Wort. It's dig, pull, repeat. The ground is likely good right now for doing this -- it looks like a total weekend project. We did this to our bed, but now I have planted grass in it so that I can mow any straglers. By the way, I have used the newspaper covered with a thick layer of mulch, etc. to smother nasty weeds in my veggie garden and it seems to have worked. This is just the second year so I'll see if my nasties return.
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casey3
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks dotty and katy for your advice. Sounds like I should give it a go w/ the pulling and see how that works. Do you think I should pull the roots of the ivy and vinca out from under the yeddo shrub by the sidewalk as best as I can?
buyorsell888
16 years ago
I'm not a huge fan of using chemicals either but ivy deserves Round Up.

If you don't get it totally killed you'll be pulling it for the next ten years or more.

Even the tiniest piece will grow again.

However, you have to have foliage to take in the Round Up. Brown stems and roots won't do.
lilydude
16 years ago
1. Cut the ivy at the base of the plant, just above ground level.
2. Paint the "stump" with concentrated Roundup. This eliminates the risk of spray getting on desireable plants.
3. Wait. Repeat as needed.
katy122
16 years ago
I geuss I just got lucky with the ivy I pulled out, I think alot has to do with the type of soil the ivy is growing in and how long established in the ground, mine was definately a weekend job and I also started in the early spring, I had a 20 ft area long by 7ft wide, not a sprig came back, of course it is all in grass now and gets mowed often.

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