permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

Mathew,
When I lived near Asheville, NC, the ecovillage I lived in forbade the 
planting of ivy, because of its opportunistic ways. I dealt with plenty 
of it on the west coast where landscapers considered it a "money plant", 
meaning that if a client had ivy there was a guaranteed income in 
regularly cutting it back or removing it. It was also a favored habitat 
for escargot and banana slugs.

I found that to control it, I had to remove the generally shallow roots 
(rarely below 6 inches unless huge) or it would immediately come right 
back. To prevent it from reseeding, it pays to kill it off in the tree 
canopy (where birds will eat and spread it's seeds) by severing it from 
its roots. The vines in the canopy will then die...and not make seed to 
feed Cedar Waxwing, Northern Robin, Stellar Jay, Mockingbird, European 
Starling, and House Sparrow. Of course, be sure to watch for poison ivy 
growing amidst it.

Pigs of course will make short work of it if they're confined to an 
infested area long enough to root it out, but be cautious of toxic 
effects. Goats, sheep, elk, and deer will eat it but I think it is not a 
preferred food...plus they eat just the leaves and not the vines. I read 
that 300 goats / acre will eliminate it....that's a lotta goats!

Suppression, by weed-wacking, aggressive mowing / grazing, followed 
immediately with heavy plastic mulch can kill it off or at least heavily 
suppress it to near the edges of the plastic. Persistence and vigilance 
are key words, here. Work from a controlled front.

Running it through a chipper can reduce it enough to compost it safely.

Some folks use glyphosate / Roundup to suppress it, but I wouldn't 
recommend it.

I've heard that strong vinegar (stronger than you buy at the grocery 
store) sprayed on it will knock it back, too, though I'd be surprised if 
that KILLED it.

Use caution with the prunings as they can re-root. I like to leave them 
on the driveway until crispy and then mulch with them, whereupon they 
rot nicely.

A comparable pernicious vine prevalent locally (Indiana) is Euonymus 
radicans (common winter creeper) which shares the same habits as ivy.

Both are ruinous when grown on fences or wooden structures as they can 
literally pry boards apart. A brick structure, on the other hand, will 
actually benefit and last longer with these vines growing on them.

<http://www.noivyleague.com/Pages/ivycide_clues.html>I found some 
Powerpoint slide shows about ivy control at the "No Ivy League 
<http://www.noivyleague.com/>" website as follows:

Click here 
<http://www.noivyleague.com/PowerPoint/Web_Part_1_Project_copy.ppt> for 
the section about the project and its history.

Cllick here 
<http://www.noivyleague.com/PowerPoint/Web_Part_2_Ivy_copy.ppt> for the 
section about the problems with ivy.

Click here 
<http://www.noivyleague.com/PowerPoint/Web_Part_3_Methods_copy.ppt> for 
the section with information about ivy removal methods and elucidation 
on how to practice "De Vine intervention ".

Good luck,
Keith

--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
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Blog: http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html
also Association for Regenerative Culture
http://www.ARCulture.org
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild