[AlaninCarlisle]

The damned stuff is everywhere around my home plot. In the hedges, fences, you name it. I know the standard organic answer to getting rid of it is to painstakingly dig it out.

Is there a chemical solution? Being pushed a little for time and not as young as I'd wish with a dodgy back, I'm looking for a non-PC inorganic method of eliminating it. Is there a safe version of that famous Vietnam war herbicide "Agent Orange"? Or will extra-strong glyphosate solution do the trick?

[operabunny]

Yes, stump killer does the trick (granules with strong glyphosate). You need to chop through the ivy and put it on the remaining stem and leave it. I used in on an enormous ivy that was destroying the solid stone wall of a building. No way to dig it out because it was rooted under flagstones and a house. The ivy looked like it had been there for about a hundred years. It's not there anymore 

btw If removing ivy from a wall, cut out a section, put stump killer on the bottom section and wait for the top to die before trying to remove it. The little 'rootlets' that cling to the wall will become brittle and detach easily instead of pulling chunks out of the wall.

[Brambles]

Thank you for the question AlaninCarlisle...  and thank you for excellent answer operabunny...  I too have a massive ivy "tree" in a very old wall... at last I know how to deal with it... I will try it too on some obstinate bramble that is STILL making my life difficult.... I WILL be free of the dreaded stuff one of these days???  Maybe!!!

[AlaninCarlisle]

Thanks for the excellent and quick answer. Now I know what tomorrow morning's job will be

[Growster...]

Agree abiout stump killer, and you may be able to bore a hole in the stump to keep the stuff concentrated.

We took acres of the stuff off our house last year, and the small marks it leaves behind have made the rather plain post-war bricks, look really quite expensive...

[Sideshoot]

with regards to ivy.....how invasive are the roots ?
The reason im asking is i want to grow it up the posts outside my chicken run and clip it so it only covers the posts.
Im confident that i can keep on top of the clipping but i dont want it popping up everywhere via roots running wild and sprouting up 6 feet away etc.

[AlaninCarlisle]

I think ivy is the spawn of the Devil. However, I doubt the roots spread too far and if caught early they're quite easy to grub out. To me, its main problems are that it grows in hedges, up trees and fences where it's difficult to get at and its glossy leaves repel glyphosate solution

[fatcat1955]

To kill the roots, bore holes in the stump and put the stump killer in. Cover with a dustbin lid or some polythene (weighted down) and that should do the trick.

[sunshineband]

I think ivy is the spawn of the Devil. However, I doubt the roots spread too far and if caught early they're quite easy to grub out. To me, its main problems are that it grows in hedges, up trees and fences where it's difficult to get at and its glossy leaves repel glyphosate solution

and you cannot stamp on it to break the leaves a bit before applying weedkiller, when it is up a tree 

 (you can when it is ground cover though -- and it works well    )