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Gardening in New Zealand

Getting rid of Convolvulus and Ivy

21 years ago

I've got neighbours who do not maintain a bit of their property which is next to mine. It is invested with convolvulus and ivy and I want to get rid of them. The area is pretty easy for me to get to but difficult for the neighbour to reach. I'd like to get in there and get rid of these invasive pests because they are starting to encrouch on my garden. Any suggestions on what to use.... methods....

Victoria

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Comments (4)

suziebee
21 years ago
Hi Victoria, try Woody Weedkiller, the active ingredients being 24D and Dicamba. If you do not wish to use sprays, you don't have much choice but dig them out. Now is a good time because the soil should be easy to work. Another way is to pull out the worst of it, then spray the new growth with roundup. If spraying isn't an option, paint the Roundup on to the new growth.
vetivert8
21 years ago
For Calystegia (the white bindweed) try putting down a thick layer of untreated sawdust, spread 30-60cm wide and 10-15cm deep, starting at the fenceline and into your place. The roots come up into the sawdust and it becomes quite easy to haul out yards of the stuff.

If it's growing through the root system of a well-established shrub (it usually does!) break off the stem close to the ground so it doesn't make enough growth to get to flowering. Cautiously try painting it with the prepared Roundup, using one of those applicator sponges and your hands in plastic gloves. Allow about eight hours of dry weather. If it rains early, you could be faced with a sick shrub and a sniggering bindweed.

If you've got the blue morning glory (you can see it growing beside the railway line on the way out to Johnsonville) - Ipomoea - do the same.

The bindweed likes a silky soil and gets a bit discouraged with grit or sawdust. Not quite as rampant but it does persist.

Ivy. English? Or Cape? Or German?

For English ivy - rip and snip - and patrol relentlessly for seedlings if the parent plants are old enough to produce berries. You can grub out older plants. Personally, I haven't noticed them coming away from the roots, provided that the above-ground growing point has been removed. If you can't get at the root system, then painting with a brushweed killer is probably your answer BUT BE VERY CAREFUL because some of those products do linger in the soil.

The two Senecios that climb and look a bit ivy-ish are reasonably easy to eradicate by cut and pull, but re-infestation is possible if they're found upwind of where you live.
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suziebee
21 years ago
Roundup, once it touches soil becomes non-active, so do not worry about it damaging nearby shrubs. The sawdust solution is really good for wondering dew as well.
vleachman
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks for the replies Suziebee and Vetivert8 - appreciate the input - I'll tackle this on the next fine weekend....

Victoria

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