I feel like I'm in a horror movie being overwhelmed by evil Ivy vines. Because of different issues, I have not been able to work on my property as much as I should have over the past couple of years. So the ivy is everywhere. How do I get rid of it, or, at least get it under control?

Ground ivy? Ivy crawling all over your house's exterior walls?

A machete is just what is needed for vines. Just get them as close to the base as you can, and leave them. When the leaves wither, drag them away from the other growth.

Of course they will come back that way. Getting them out by the roots is a lot more work.

And POISON ivy... ugh. I would warn the neighbors and put gas soaked cardboard over the roots and set fire to it.

We finally pulled out ground ivy by the roots; trimming it close to the ground only encouraged it. We did the same with a broad-leaf vine that the previous owners had trained to climb the gutters. We lived in a jungle and built up our biceps with all the pulling. Hire a landscaping company?

Use a product called ROUNDUP, not the extended control type. (other brands just are not nearly as effective).. just the regular, spray all the leaves you can beign careful not to spray any trees shrubs or grass. Its OK if you avoid where its close to any because of you get at enoug of it , it will kill the entire vine, to and including the roots. Something that won't happen if you just pull it up or cut it. If you do that it will keep coming back and do it fairly quickly.

After it turns brown and dies... about a week or two, then pull it out and off the building.

Trust me...LOTS of experience with English Ivey and Kudzu....which is 20 times worse.

Ground and walls, under the shingles, tendrils everywhere. I've cut and pulled, but as I said, I haven't had time to do so the last couple of years. Plus the body isn't what it used to be and all that bending and pulling takes a quick toll. I find I can't spend more than an hour at a time at it.

I wish I could afford to hire a landscaper, its really a shame because the house had a park-like back yard when I bought it.

Roundup? Really? And I just bought a 1.3 gallon jug of the Extended Control stuff. I though I had used it on it, but will give it another try.

You just have to be extra careful where the spray with the extended control lands... unless you spray from VERY close you WILL get a mist being carried off by any breeze. And that will kill a lot of grass or sensitive shrubs etc where it lands.

Maybe you didn't spray enough, or enough of the leaves...or did wait long enough....its not dormant now so it shoudl kill it in a week or two. Weeds will show the effect overnight....English ivey puts up a good show for a lot longer before you see it having effect.

Its always worked for me.....got loads of it around here that the neighbors have I have to keep fighting off. I don't touch it until it turns brown after its sprayed.

For about 5 years after I bought my house I've go through a GALLON of the CONCENTRATE every year (which was like 17 gallons of ready to spray. when its mixed) Yes, half my property was so badly covered it looked like a rain forest. And I had kudzu vines 4 inches thick it too chainsaws to cut.

English Ivey isn't nearly as persistant as Kudzu is, as bad is it is.

I think its resistant to rain in a hour or so after spraying....but I won't use it if its going to rain less than a day or two later.

I like the regular because microorganisms in the soild will neutralize the reguar kind in about a month.....I've avoided the extended control because it didn't with the kind of places I use it.

Frankly, at this point, I really don't care what I kill as long as the ivy gets under control. Its covering everything anyway.

I'm guessing the vines are really extensive... so you need to spray a lot more of the vine, the more you spray of the vine the more efective it will be. and english ivey is one of the more difficult plants to kill...

If you only hit a little of a really large vine its kind of like wondering you don't bleed to death from a paper cut. It absorbes the toxins dragging them back to the roots with the other sugars created in the leaves to nourish the plant... and that's how it kills it from th roots. All a matter of dilution.

I'm going to try it this weekend on the path on one side of my house. I really don't care if everything gets killed there as its only a path between my neighbors house and mine and he doesn't use that side to get to his back yard.

ROUNDUP, ugh, bane of the soil, supporter of Monsanto's despotism, ruination of bees, ruination of all crops, ruination of the planet.

But it works and is very effective.

It won't hurt the soil, at least the regualr white bottle stuff. That actually biodegrades. Can't say about the silver bottle stuff.

If I was you scott...if you have a patio or a walkway of stone or pavers...save the extended control for those areas and buy the regular for the other stuff.

If you manage to kill part of your yard with overspray, you can reseed a month later. You will have to wait until next year for the extended control