[wneva]

Does anyone have ideas about how to limit the growth of ivy on the wall of the house.  We have a victorian cottage with ivy all over one wall - and every year I have to get up a ladder and cut it back.  It's reaching the roof, and is covering the bathroom window.  I've found that cutting it back encourages ever more vigorous bushy growth.  I did wonder about using the hedge trimmer on it, but it feels a bit perilous to do so while 6 ft up a ladder. 

My wife doesn't want me to kill it completely, or cut it right back to a manageable "no ladder needed" level.  I'm getting on a bit now, and I don't enjoy this ladder stuff at all. 

[Kleftiwallah]

Thanks for reminding me of a job I have yet to do.

I have an ivy covering a water butt and it's creeping up our bungalow wall.  My advice would be to cut it back futher than you think is necessary so when the flush of regrowth has settled down it is where you want it to be and no futher.

Cheers,    Tony.

[Trillium]

Hate ivy. It exemplifies the old - give it an inch and it'll take a yard.

As Klefti suggests, cut it down much further than you think you want and keep it there. It's very hard to kill so don't worry about that.

And you'll also see the damage the ivy has done to your walls. MIL had ivy on one brick wall and she asked us to cut it down for her. 10 years later all the little sucker bits were still hard and stuck in the brick cracks and not even a wire brush  got them out.

[sunshineband]

We kept our ivy that was growing on the garage cut back with hedge clippers twice a year and the birds loved it.

Eventually though I got tired of having to cut off the long growths that threatened to swap plants at ground level, and those invading the roof too.

Last year it went, but like Trillium said -- its marks still remain on the wall.

Hard decision but glad we did it.... the birds now nest in brambles at the end of the garden, and other shrubs near the house.

Everyone is happy 

[LilacSandy]

Got into our guttering and we had to replace the lot.  Makes me shudder everytime I see it growing on someones wall.

[GYO Girl]

Our house was covered in ivy when we moved in, and on our second weekend in the house I set about with a pair of secateurs trying to trim it back and then peel off each length back to where I'd cut.  Impossible -  it was so tightly stuck to the wall that in the end more drastic measures were called for and my hubby scraped off the whole lot within 10 minutes with a shovel.  We then sprayed the stump with a good dousing of glyphosate (it was rooted under the path so couldn't dig it out).  The walls are still covered in marks but at least the evil ivy is gone forever.

Get rid and plant something prettier, like a wisteria, instead.

[Auntiemogs]

Got into our guttering and we had to replace the lot.  Makes me shudder everytime I see it growing on someones wall.

Horrid stuff!  Only realised my neighbours ivy had pulled my lean-to guttering away when my new water barrel didn't fill up.  Apparently I'm welcome to go round to fix it and spray the ivy with glyphosate.  Managed to restrain myself from asking if he would hold my stick while I do it. 

[AlaninCarlisle]

You're lucky if glyphosate shifts it for you. We had a thread on this subject about a year ago and, although I can't recall all the comment, I ended up using a brushwood and stump killer mixed with engine-oil to make it stick to the leaves

[Auntiemogs]

Thanks for that!  Think I have some tree root killer around.