How to Remove English Ivy

Ivy is a creeper used to decorate the outer walls of a house. But if you are thinking of getting rid of ivy before it takes over other plants, there are a few procedures to help you remove English Ivy. First and foremost you should understand that you will have to remove English Ivy manually. But before getting on to the process you should keep in mind the safety measures.

Safety Measures

1 Be well dressed! I mean in long sleeves, full pants, gloves, and sturdy shoes and don’t forget to cover your head.

2. Use the tools methodically and be careful while you cut ivy over a plant or tree.

3. Never pull ivy from the branches higher than you because it can throw down loose or dead twigs knocking you out.

4. Do not touch the ivy sap with your naked hands because contact with it can cause dermatitis or a mild rash and even blisters.

5. Do not eat berries or leaves from the ivy, as they are poisonous.

6. Move nests to a safe place before you start removing the ivy.

7. Be careful when you are working in sloppy areas.

8. Be careful while removing ivy off other plants as you may unknowingly cut the plant along with the ivy. See that you don’t perform a stampede with the wonderful vegetations or animals while working on the slopes.

To remove English ivy you need to equip yourself with working gloves, pruning shears, saw and lopping shears. Beware! It may be difficult to find your tool in the thick ivy, so paint or cover the tool handle with a bright colored tape.

Clearing the Ivy

1. First of all, remove ivy from the trees. Use pruning saws or hooks to take out creepers that are only at your shoulder or ankle level. Watch out for thick vines entangled on the bark. Cut them without harming the bark of the tree.

2. Make sure you clear the garden floor of all ivies; otherwise they will grow and creep over the trees again. Pull the ivy off its roots and loosen the other vegetations from its tight grip. Make sure you cut the vines around the plants and then slowly remove the ivy.

3. Make a short but strong ivy log to pull out the ivy vines and pick one that can be lifted easily. Roll the ivy with the piece of wood. To protect other plants, use the pull through or cut away method. In the pull-through technique you have to take the ivy leads and then pull them while rolling the log. But this technique can be employed only on deep-rooted and small native plants. In the cut-away method you have to chop off the lengthy vines into small pieces and then collect them with the log, slowly releasing other native plants from the ivy.

4. Employ the cookie-cutter method while removing English ivy from slopes. This method is mainly useful for sloppy areas and especially in those areas that have drainage problems or a dense ivy growth. Clear the ivy in a circular form. Place a Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock or Douglas fir in the middle of the circle. Clear the circle off the ivies at least twice a year. This method helps you prevent soil erosion and evaporation of moisture content from the fertile grounds. As years go by, clear a bigger circle of ivy and make sure you plant more herbs, ferns and shrubs.

5. Mulch the ground that has been freed of ivy with wood chips. This way you can retain the fertility of the soil and prevent weeds from growing back again at the same place.

6. Now that you have removed the ivy you need to find the right place to dispose of it. Larger chunks cannot be disposed as yard waste. So stack them in a corner of the yard and let them dry. It will gradually decompose by itself. To speed up the decomposition process, cover the ivy with a canvas.

Clearing ivy for the first time may take a considerable amount of time and effort, but in the coming years you have to spend only a fraction of it to maintain an ivy-free garden.