Where are you located (nearest big city, state)? Personally, I think your landscaping is beautiful and I wouldn't change a thing but you're not happy so it must change. Removing English ivy is a long term project. Start pulling it when the ground is soft this fall/winter and expect it to keep popping back up. After you pull it, cover the bare area with mulch so you can see the new shoots of ivy.

hi cecilia! in ny! i do love it but its more the practicality i have a young toddler and work full time and have little time to maintain nor do i want to spend a lot of money maintaining it monthly. and would prefer to have some sort of clearing for her to safely run around. also read that ivy is a skin irritant and pests live in them and definitely do not want them coming into the house. not sure if that is true, but for sure my daughter would go running right onto the ivy and really do not want her doing that :(

lol true thanks for the honest opinion! was thinking i could hire a professional to do an overhaul to get it redone prior to move in so its not like i need to be there and have them put in something easier to maintain. but sounds like this may be more of a long term project and not as easy.

Bugs live in the outdoors. You can’t (and shouldn’t) kill them all. IMO, kids should spend a lot of time outdoors. Most bugs are perfectly safe for kids to be around.

I’ll echo Christopher - if you are that fearful, maybe a house with a yard isn’t for you.

Parents purchase houses based, in part, on the school district. Homes in a suburban district with highly rated schools will have yards. The OP may prefer a house with a lot of lawn rather than planting beds.

No mowing? Leave the ivy please.

Yikes. Sounds like the only thing that would totally fit your requirements is artificial turf.

Hire someone to remove as much of the ivy as possible and mulch it, as well as tidying up things. Looks like you might have a bit of lawn in there--if not, have a small one put in. Leave most of the other stuff though. That is the best kind of yard to be a kid in.

Psst. Check for poison ivy. It hides.

I don’t know why you are getting so much hate for wanting to remove the ivy. We just purchased a property that also is covered in ivy. It’s a two acre lot with lots of old trees. Former owners didn’t maintain the ivy.. it has grown up hundred foot trees, taken over the beds, climbed up the fences, and has encouraged gophers and groundhogs to move in. It can get out of control fast. You can absolutely own a house with a yard that doesn’t include ivy! I am fairly against herbicide but in our instance, it may be the only option, given the size of the property. Other solutions we are exploring are hiring goats 😀 (also are in NY, a couple companies in the Hudson valley do this), scorching in, among others. But we are leaving the decision to the professionals. This isn’t a weekend job for us. Pulling will take us multiple lifetimes… for you it will take years. Good luck and do what’s best for you and your family!

I think you have misread many of the comments :-) There is no "hate" involved with the removal of the English ivy. In fact, in areas like mine where it is a serious invasive species, it is to be encouraged and applauded. But where ivy is well established - as in the OP's photos - it will not be a simple project to remove. Will take time and a LOT of effort, which if you hire it done, means $$$.

Herbicides have very little impact and goats are a novel approach but unfortunately do not dig down and eat ivy roots. And unless and until ALL the ivy roots are removed, it will return!

Removal of the ivy to the sufficient extent one can make the garden suitable and safe for a toddler to play in is a long time off so this property may not be the best choice.

I have a lot of ivy on my property, particularly in the front, which is a steep slope to the street and a bit shady. I did remove quite a bit of it up where my front lawn starts to level out near my from porch. It had grown way beyond the slope! . It was certainly a challenge to remove. And I'm still dealing with tendrils that come out from under my porch. But! Once it was all cleared, I had (and continued to have) a HUGE constant battle with weeds :( a couple years after my initial ivy removal, the weeds (esp thistle) had started taking over the entire front area, includimg down into the slope (growing among the ivy). I hired someone to clear the weeds and they pulled out half of the ivy too! It was actually a big problem. The slope had nothing to stop it from degrading, and the weeds now had full reign! I've now spent the past two years working to encourage ivy back into the bare part of my slope, along with other ground cover - esp vinca vine. I'd much rather occasionally trim ivy back vs deal with intense weed cover.

If you remove your ivy, I HIGHLY recommend you immediately replace with another hardy ground cover to avoid my weedy nightmare. Mulch and even weed cloth is not sufficient! I do recommend vinca vine. Snow on the mountain is also very nice.