Gardening fans show the best way to banish ivy for good – best of all it costs absolutely nothing
ALTHOUGH some homeowners love the charming look of English Ivy climbing the walls it can easily become incredibily invasive.
If not kept under control the plant can damage the exterior walls of your home, strangle trees and even grow up to 80 feet high.
That’s why some gardening fans have shared their top trick to keeping the perennial plant under control – and it won’t cost you a penny.
Posting in the Facebook group Mrs Hinch Made Me Do It, the green fingered whizzes suggested a few different tricks after one woman asked for advice.
She wrote in the group: “Hi, can anyone tell me what is the best thing to remove ivy completely from a garden wall and fence, please? Much appreciated.”
It turns out all you need to do to stop Ivy coming back is cut it down to it’s root and pull it out by hand.
One said: “We had the same problem when we moved in. Pulled it all off fences which had to be replaced, then dug out any roots.
“Did the trick. Sometimes get the odd bit trying to come back but just pull it out.”
A second agreed: “Cut off at the roots. leave until growth is dead. Then it will come off in sheets like fence panels. Then you are able to dig out the roots.”
Meanwhile, others suggested adding in one extra step to make sure the invasive plant is gone for good.
“Pour boiling water into the roots,” one wrote.
“Boiling water will kill off the roots after you’ve cut them back, just repeat for a few days and it should die off,” another said.
The heat from the water should kill off the remaining portion of the plant, and repeating the process will ensure the roots of the plant die off as well.
And for harder to remove Ivy, one gardening fan noted they has success using a pressure washer.
They explained: “You could try a pressure washer and I also used a wallpaper scraper for the really stubborn bits.”
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, Ivy “growing on buildings can be a cause for concern owing to its rapid pace of growth and worries about potential damage to the support structure.”
They explained: “First, consider whether this can be done using non-chemical means such as digging out or cutting the stem off at ground level.
“Where these methods are not feasible, chemical controls may need to be used.”