ivy in a hedge

mickward · 10-08-2020 4:39pm #1

Hi All,

is there anyway to get rid of ivy in a hedge other than pull it, it is very dense growth of small to medium stems, so it is not possible to just cut the main leaders, i cannot get at them through the hedge. it is 100% smothering the hedge.

I hate to ask, but is there a spray or something that could be used?

This is a rural hedge so easily 100+m long and if removed my mam will have no privacy at all to passers by in her back garden and at 83 she likes her privacy these days.

thanks guys.

10-08-2020 6:06pm

For privacy, there is no better plant than ivy; evergreen, good coverage. I know there have been multiple threads on boards regarding ivy, but it bears repeating that ivy does not smother/strangle or kill other plants. It really doesn't - I know the anti-ivy attitude is so ingrained in Irish people that there is no prospect of changing minds, but anyway.

If the hedge is regularly flailed, eg if its on a roadside, this can set a lot of plants back, but not ivy/brambles (or hazel), so this often leads to more obvious dominance of these.

standardg60 · 10-08-2020 8:36pm

Deleted User wrote: »

For privacy, there is no better plant than ivy; evergreen, good coverage. I know there have been multiple threads on boards regarding ivy, but it bears repeating that ivy does not smother/strangle or kill other plants. It really doesn't - I know the anti-ivy attitude is so ingrained in Irish people that there is no prospect of changing minds, but anyway.

If the hedge is regularly flailed, eg if its on a roadside, this can set a lot of plants back, but not ivy/brambles (or hazel), so this often leads to more obvious dominance of these.

About as much prospect of changing minds as there is of changing yours blaris :-)

Op unfortunately there's nothing else to do but pull it out or try to break the climbing stems at the base of the hedge. Ivy is particularly resistant to weedkiller due to the waxy leaf. If the hedge is deciduous you could try bruising the ivy leaves and spraying the winter.

mickward · 11-08-2020 8:02am

if only it was as simple as asking my mum to like ivy, i would be over the moon as the prospect of removing it is a daunting task.
Everyone to their own and if you like ivy then that is great, i don't as i have lost trees to it in the past and this is the second hedge which it is covering and killing off, once it gets a grip its a devil of a thing to get rid off.

thank you for the advise and i suppose i may just buy a pair of good gloves and go at it.

Wyldwood · 11-08-2020 9:35am

I have a similar problem with ivy popping up and trying to take over trees, shrubs and the hedge. I hate ivy, it's a parasite of a plant. Unfortunately, the only true solution is to get in there and dig it out roots and all or it will come back. Nasty job though.

macraignil · 11-08-2020 9:53am

Ivy is great for pollinators when it is flowering and I've read it is an important source of food for birds over winter so I agree with Blaris that it is not all bad. Also read that it has a protective effect on old structures so in the past some community groups ripping it off walls on historic old buildings did more damage than good. If it is growing where you don't want it I think you are right that ripping it out is the best way to remove it but for difficult bits a secateurs will help trim it back. A long handled set of loppers might help reach in to cut the thicker pieces. I've only ever seen it become dominant in a hedge when there was a problem with the hedge plants. My parents griselinia was almost completely killed by frost and for a few years it was just ivy maintaining some privacy at one side of their back garden. What type of plants make up the hedge and is there some underlying health problem with the hedge plants?

mickward · 11-08-2020 12:24pm

Hi Guys,

thanks for all the replies, i think it is just cut it out until i can see the hedge form the ivy so to speak.

in relation to community groups pulling ivy off structures and it damaging the structure, i am afraid to say and without going into it i have experience and qualifications here, the ivy undermines the old style mortar, by the time groups decided to remove it, the damage is already done, and by removing it the building does degrade at a substantially greater rate but it was the ivy roots that did the damage, so i agree if you have an old particularly stone building covered in ivy, unless you intend to re point the building leave the ivy alone!

for my situation, the ivy is unwanted by the lady of the house, she also does not want to loose her hedge for a number of years, so i do not know what to do without spending vast amounts digging out and replacing with mature hedging.

Anyway the struggle continues and the birds and bees can go to your house to feast on the ivy there if they want:cool::D:D

kylith · 11-08-2020 12:39pm

Best I can think to do is try identify the ivy stems and cut them as close to the ground as possible, then you can pull out from the bottom.

looksee · 11-08-2020 2:30pm

I have one of those kind of wild hedges and in places there is ivy, though it is not overwhelming generally. However I have two spindle bushes in the hedge that I particularly like but they were almost invisible under a blanket of ivy, so last autumn I pulled out as much as I could reach. The bushes have rewarded me by producing lots of growth and actually look like trees/bushes rather than random ivy heaps. Spindle is valuable to wildlife both at flowering and fruiting stage, so the loss of the ivy is more than compensated for by the improvement in the bushes.

The ivy is prevalent in the bottom of the hedgerow but doesn't seem too bothered about going up into the hawthorn that predominates.

ivy in a hedge

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