Whether your garden fence has been overtaken by planting ivy too close or you’ve tried masking your ugly fence with ivy, you may have an idea of how much these plants have a mind of their own. While English ivy plants can serve as a decorative garden feature, experts would advise removing ivy as soon as possible to avoid expensive structural damage, especially if you notice the plant growing out of control.
Gardening pros at DripWorks have shared different ways to kill “invasive plants” like ivy. If you’re after a “natural and effective” way to get rid of the plant, they claimed that an “apple cider vinegar” based solution is the way to go. They said: “If you want an ivy-free garden, this is an effective and natural way to achieve it.”
The pros explained that the combination of apple cider vinegar, salt, and dish soap has “been proven to be the best solution to kill ivy”.
The vinegar and salt are the agents that attack the ivy the most. Meanwhile, the soap works to improve the vinegar’s effectiveness.
For this method, mix one gallon of vinegar, one tablespoon of salt, and one ounce of dish soap.
Next, fill the spray bottle with this solution. It is crucial to wear gardening gloves, long sleeves, and boots before moving on.
Then, spray the solution generously on ivy plants. This vinegar-based solution should remain on ivy plants for a minimum of five days before checking the progress.
After five to six days, it should be “completely dead”. Use garden shears and a pruning saw to remove dead ivy that is clinging firmly to the building.
You can even use a decorator’s scraping tool to remove ivy that’s clinging strongly to your home or sheds.
If some leaves survive, you should repeat the same process until the English ivy dies.
As ivy is incredibly invasive, the last thing you want is to put it in your compost to potentially grow once more. Instead, you need to dispose of the debris properly in your garden waste bin.
