Just use hand-power and rip-rip-rip. I am a totally organic gardener. I once had a disaster. A neighbor applied Weed B Gone ( or Roundup) to his side of the fence, rain and wind pushed the chemical onto my flowers and I lost most of my plantings that year.

This post was edited by jannie on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 8:42

We weed-wacked and then pulled the residual by hand, but it's back with a vengence. I have heard a mixture of water, vinegar and dawn detergent is good on weeds, but wasn't sure if something like that would work on a plant with waxy residue like ivy. Any thoughts on that?

Ps. As a beekeeper, I so appreciate organic gardners!!!

I've used 20% vinegar with excellent results, but I don't know if you can even get it any more;
one or some of the big chemical companies wanted it banned, so...

You must use safety glasses & wear gloves & long sleeves, & you have to stand upwind of it & not breathe the fumes, but it's the only thing that ever killed my roots-to-China bermuda grass.

If you can't find the 20%, just get the strongest you can find, 10% or 9% pickling strength.

Spray it on the area full strength on a hot sunny windless day, & wait for a couple of days for the roots to shrivel so they're easier to get out.

Friday I mixed 4 cups of vinegar, 1/4 cup of salt and 2 tsps of Dawn, I put it in a spray bottle and hit several spots in my iris bed. It was about 12:30pm when I went out and sprayed. About 5:30 I went out to look and lo and behold all of the weeds were dead and in one spot you couldn't even tell they were there. An iris I sprayed on purpose showed no signs of being hit..I need to look at it today(I was gone all day yesterday). I am sure I will have to continue to hit the spots to eventually kill the roots, but it beat hand weeding..

I'm thinking continued use of the salt will eventually affect other plants (the "good" ones) in that area.

I haven't seen pickling strength vinegar available in many, many years, and I've looked....had an old dill recipe we loved that I had to retire since the only vinegar available to us is the standard 5%, and ivy laughs at that.

The waxy coating on ivy leaves makes it resistant to just about any herbicide not registered for professional not homeowners use. Brush Be Gone will sometimes help, but I've got hummingbirds, deer, rabbits, bumblebees - the bumblebees are in the ground right under a 12' rhododendron I'd wanted to take out so my plans are on hold for that ancient shrub right now :)

I feel your pain though, I spent another afternoon yesterday ripping, digging ivy. The property we bought in November has it everywhere, in those few places the ivy hasn't been taking over, the false lily of the valley and blackberry have been doing the same...

I've got the ivy out of all the trees, some of the beds. Cut, pull, dig, anyway I can get it :) It's time consuming, and we've hauled pickup loads of it out of here. I (we, I can't discount DH's help) have never had help in the yard or gardens but I think I'm going to call in a crew to give me a bid on the heavy removal for the back of the property. Too many commitments for July to give us enough time to really concentrate on the ivy and blackberry, in the meantime it just continues to inch forward.

It's one happy weed here in the PNW if you don't stay right on top of it, sadly my new-to-me property had been neglected for the last several years. At least know you aren't in this alone:

Here is a link that might be useful: No Ivy League, Portland

you can buy a more powerful strength vinegar if you look in the cleaning aisle of the grocery store. I have both types at home, use the strongest for mopping the tile floors and cleaning the showers and bathroom.

Pouring boiling water down on the roots will kill many things, cut it back then pour it on the fresh cuts.
Continued use of salt will damage your ground. Same happens around here when hurricanes bring the salt water inland the ground is salt dead and will not grow for a long time.

I have an ongoing battle with ivy, too. It would eat my house if I gave it a chance. I have dug out small patches of it, but it would grow back given half a chance. It even grows into my AC condenser, so I am always pulling it out. I'd like to meet the dumbbell who planted it. I have heard that covering it with heavy black plastic held down with weights at the edges will smother and kill it. I haven't tried that yet.

don't use a weedwacker or lawn mower on it. It cuts it up to much... and the little pieces can take root.

Pull and dig it out. Yes, it is tedious, but I have done it... and am working on it again, in this yard.

Moni

When I was at the garden center I saw that they were selling it as a groundcover. I almost gagged. Do not ever plant that stuff in your yard! Another ground cover you should never pay money for is pachysandra. Anyone who has a patch is usually happy to digsome up and give it away. It's not anywhere near as invasive as ivy, but it does require yanking out the vines that go beyond where you want it.

I got out there again today and tore it out by hand (found muscles didn't know I had and they are SORE!) I covered it with a weighted tarp. Hoping for the best! Thanks for the great responses!

Send it to me. I have made several attempts and it just doesn't grow for me!

Let me know how that tarp works out. I want to try that method.

You're making me feel like such a wimp! I have the problem of periwinkle (creeping myrtle) having taken over what used to be my flower beds. I'll have to get in there and pull it all out by hand because there are a few surviving desirable plants in there that I don't want to kill. I've done this once before and I dread it sooo much!

I don't know of any other way for you to get that ivy out safely, either, so I guess I won't be alone in finding new places to be sore that I didn't know I had.

When I was a FL Master Gardener, we told people how to get rid of poison ivy (it's ivy!) Cut the stem down to about an inch above the ground and IMMEDIATELY (like have it already on your brush) paint the cut stem with 50% undiluted Round Up, I have personally used another product that is Glyphosate based. You may have to repeat the process.

My Grandma used to pour boiling salt water on the sidewalk cracks to kill grass and weeds.

Bnidweed. We are being taken over by bindweed. It looks like morning glories, the flowers are pretty, but the vines take over and smother everything it crosses. This stuff MOVED our BBQ, people! Pulled it right across the patio in a matter of days. *shudder*

Dances.