Killing Ivy in a Hedge

A friend has recommended " Growing Sucess Organics Ltd " as a supplier of "Ivy Killer Gel "

Its to get rid of ivy at trhe bottom of my / neighbours hedge

? Anyone used it please

My husband who hates Ivy with intensity  has just removed (wearing gloves as ivy is poisonous,makes a skin rash).by hand it s easy just pull and it comes away,where  it becomes a problem is if it is attached to your house and then you will have to watch the mortar does not come away with it!Then you will need a ivy killer of sorts .I don't like poisonous remedies but you ll need one for this task.

If you have ivy in a hedge, then I understand the problem. An obvious solution would be to try to dig out the root. If the plant and its roots are well entwined with the hedge, this may be impossible.

One method of killing the plant would be to carefully paint some of the leaves with Roundup Gel. You don't need to paint the entire plant. Roundup Gel is available at most garden centres and DIY stores. Roundup takes a while to work, but would do the job. Roundup is best applied when plants are actively growing, and not at this time of year.

An alternative method which is less tedious would be to use Roundup Tree Stump killer. It's expensive, but a small amount applied to the stem of the plant, in accordance with the instructions, would have the desired effect.

The weedkiller quoted in the first post contains ammonium sufamate. That's a different chemical. Weedkillers using this chemical are sold under a varieity of names. I have no experience of applying it, but it does look interesting. There's a lot more about ammonium sufamate here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_sulfamate

Oh my.... this is one of my soap box subjects! you might regret this!!

We moved this spring to a house with a good sized garden certainly big enough for 2 of us both with jobs and time share dogs we borrow every now and again, as we do with nephews and nieces! once we actully stood back and looked at what needed doing, we worked out that the people in before us did nothing appart from cut the grass for the 7 years they where in there.

We've been hacking and clearing all summer and finally we're down to just the ivy going along the back boundry "hedge" I use inverted commas because the hedge actually consists of 4 or 5 youngish damson trees that are covered in Ivy which then spreads all along the fence.

We decided to leave this bit until last because the birds where nesting in there. The branches of the Ivy are as thick as my arm which is ok but then there are all the off shoots even when you pull them out there are still bits under the ground and berries buried by the birds / squirrels it drives me nuts! not to mention the roots all through the back boarder! 

We've managed to get the 30 year old stuff down from the side of the house, the WHOLE side, I remember the houses being built and know when it went in, but now we have a 30 year old stump left... we've got stuff to drill holes and pour in!

So I suppose after my rant... (sorry about that!) the question is are you talking fairly young stuff which crops up occasionally or is it more of a tree with full on branches, because if you have as much as we've cleared, never mind have left to go I wouldn't fancy painting gel on all the leaves!

I've sprayed ivy on the house walls and the garden walls several times with glyphosate and it didn't work. I pull it off and it always grows back. The roots seem to go under the walls. I think I'll rush off and get some ammonium sulphamate.

Hi NewBoy

I don't paint the leaves. I cut the 'main' stalk to a couple of inches above the soil and apply neat glyphosate to the cut stem. Being cut, all the top growth dies back and you can keep re-applying to the 'growing' bit (ie the stump) until it gives up! Might take a couple of applications but it seems to work for me.

best , Janet

The ivy is only a few inches tall but spread and is UNDER a hedge and not on a house

Its ground based only

Sorry Gary - I was acually agreeing with your 3rd paragraph in principle! Just tried to explain how I do it!

My garden has one side with a hedge of sorts- mix match of stuff but it works as a boundary and as it's not in my garden, the neighbour has to cut it twice a year It does have some ivy under & growing through  it, I'm going to leave it be as I loved seeing the blackbirds jumping up for the berries last winter/spring

NewBoy2,

It's just a question of persistently pulling out the ivy as it appears and it will take two years to get rid.

Joe