Eradicating English ivy ??

I am reshaping my back yard and need to get rid of quite a bit of English ivy. Herbicides are not an option. I don't mind just pulling it at the get-go, and will likely be doing some dozing, so getting it out of the immediate area should not be a problem (may take some time but that's OK). I am concerned about how to dispose of it without having it just take hold in areas I don't want it. I live on acreage and typically just dump plant material into low spots needing fill. I'm thinking this could be a recipe for disaster. Should I pile it up to dry out and then burn it? Any suggestions? I live in the Pacific Northwest and it is quite a problem in our woods, so I don't want to contribute to the spread.

Thanks for any ideas. Deb

If you don't want them to take root some place else, you could lay down a tarp first then pile the Ivy on it, close up the tarp and let the "mothers" fry in the sun. After they're good and dead you can burn them. Just a thought.

Pastime, I take it English Ivy isn't your favorite, LOL? I like that, good, dead and burn 'em. That's kinda how I feel about the lil moles that try to take over our lawn, rofl. I just planted some english ivy in a small garden, was that a mistake?
Cyn

I planted just a couple Ivy plants on the edge of my small Japanese garden 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't get around to weeding that garden this year until late July. I couldn't believe the site I found. The Ivy had completely covered the whole garden and was inching it's way under the fence and into the farmers field next door. I pulled 10' long runners out this summer and 5 big wheel barrows full of Ivy. The stuff was relentless. Maidenhair ferns and the bamboo were completely hidden under the vines as well as the stepping stones. I had to pull vines out of my pachysandra groundcover without pulling up the pachysandra at the same time. It took me all day to clean up the area. The only good thing was the garden was heavily mulch and the Ivy was growing on top of the mulch, so they pulled up easy, and didn't cause any damage to the plantings. I left some in there, because it's pretty and does help with the weeds, but I keep it in it's place now. Here's a picture of the garden just after the Ivy attack.

This message was edited Oct 6, 2009 12:00 AM

bonehead,
I have pulled a ton of EI. It is a back breaking job. Atlanta is full of it and grows nearly year round.
It had been creeping back into the corner of my back yard and I was dreading having to go pull it out. One day, while mowing the lawn I just made a left and ran the mower over the area. The ivy got demolished! It isn't completely gone and the runners that didn't get chopped up will resprout. But for now it isn't much of a problem and I can walk around there without tripping. If I wanted to go pull what is left it would probably be much much easier.
By the way, when I did pull it up I would just pile it up as I went. It dries out and disappears after a year or two. Once its disconnected from the ground it rarely reroots.
Good luck.
Helen