Stopping ivy growing too high up wall

[charliecambs]

Hi, I have one side of garden that's a brick wall.
There's a few bushes but some " nice" green ivy growing which is far better than a brick wall to look at!
This time of year it grows too high very quickly and needs trimming.
I don't want to kill it off just hopefully prevent growing past a point. I did see some ideas about zinc or copper sheet fixed on wall
Anyone know of something that might work??

 

[Smallfry]

Ivy will destroy the wall, given time

 

[daleyd]

Give a trim with hedge trimmer or secateurs - ivy is great cover for wildlife and provides berries for birds. Gets a bad reputation, somewhat unfounded, but on a garden wall as long as you manage it and the wall is sound in the first place it shouldn’t cause any damage. Don’t know if there’s any way to stop it climbing beyond a point, we just give ours a trim every few years or so to keep it in check.

 

[Other Daniel]

You certainly don't need to worry about accidentally killing it.
They're almost indestructable.
Just keep it trimmed as you would like it.

 

[Onoff]

I'm looking to "discourage" the neighbours ground ivy. A lad at work reckons he buried a bottle of dilute phosphoric acid in the ground, pushed a tendril into the bottle and the plant sucked it up and died. Would that work?

 

[gaz1]

Hi, I have one side of garden that's a brick wall.
There's a few bushes but some " nice" green ivy growing which is far better than a brick wall to look at!
This time of year it grows too high very quickly and needs trimming.
I don't want to kill it off just hopefully prevent growing past a point. I did see some ideas about zinc or copper sheet fixed on wall
Anyone know of something that might work??

you should see the damage that ivy does to houses

it can rake out all your pointing out of the walls
grow vines inside of the cavity and grow vines under your floorboards

it does take time but a well establist ivy is bad news for homes

up to you if you have it but it can affect the value of your property as it can lower the sales price rather well

eg: new pointing, clear ivy off walls, take down and rebuild the wall that the ivy has grown on depending on the damage its caused ( vine inside cavity grows really well )

thats minus 10,000 off the value of your home so have it at your risk

 

[daleyd]

you should see the damage that ivy does to houses

it can rake out all your pointing out of the walls
grow vines inside of the cavity and grow vines under your floorboards

it does take time but a well establist ivy is bad news for homes

up to you if you have it but it can affect the value of your property as it can lower the sales price rather well

eg: new pointing, clear ivy off walls, take down and rebuild the wall that the ivy has grown on depending on the damage its caused ( vine inside cavity grows really well )

thats minus 10,000 off the value of your home so have it at your risk

its on a garden wall!

 

[fizzy]

you should see the damage that ivy does to houses

it can rake out all your pointing out of the walls
grow vines inside of the cavity and grow vines under your floorboards

it does take time but a well establist ivy is bad news for homes

up to you if you have it but it can affect the value of your property as it can lower the sales price rather well

eg: new pointing, clear ivy off walls, take down and rebuild the wall that the ivy has grown on depending on the damage its caused ( vine inside cavity grows really well )

thats minus 10,000 off the value of your home so have it at your risk

And yet people are terrified of Japanese knotweed

 

[gaz1]

its on a garden wall!

fair point hadnt read that but if its a boundary wall hes responsible for damaging it

the amount of neighbours who allow it to grow is surprising it damages wood fencing for fun

 

[gaz1]

And yet people are terrified of Japanese knotweed

if ivy grew as fast as japanese knotweed it would be classed as an evasive plant

it is one of natures plants that can turn a brick or stone building to rubble over time it can even grow on concrete rather well

 

[brightspark]

idiots at daughters rental house let it grow and didnt tell us it was up to the gutter about a meter wide went round with my multitool and sliced the stems at ground level 2 month and its no more

 

[MattF]

it would be classed as an evasive plant

It is pretty evasive, the sneaky, tenacious b*****d.

 

[MattF]

its on a garden wall!

However, (can't believe I'm siding with gaz here ), it can be a vicious so-&-so when it gets within walls. I've been trying to kill one off for around a year now which has rooted within a wall. The bloody thing just will not die completely.

 

[gaz1]

However, (can't believe I'm siding with gaz here ), it can be a vicious so-&-so when it gets within walls. I've been trying to kill one off for around a year now which has rooted within a wall. The bloody thing just will not die completely.

yeah without taking the wall down and rebuild it

the only other alternative is to burn it out you need oil or diesel to soak down into the wall and set fire to it

 

[charliecambs]

I do want to keep it to hide the wall.
Actually it's not too hard to pull away and seems to have done very little if any damage to motar or brickwork.
Even in this weather I reckon it increases by 3 to 4 brick courses in maybe 2-3 weeks.
Think I'll have to stick with trimming as I think setting fire to the wall is a bit extreme

 

[MattF]

Think I'll have to stick with trimming as I think setting fire to the wall is a bit extreme

No sense of adventure.

 

[gaz1]

if you want it

build a wood trellis set it away from the wall and let it grow on it is my advice

 

[MattF]

yeah without taking the wall down and rebuild it

the only other alternative is to burn it out you need oil or diesel to soak down into the wall and set fire to it

First off, I'm planning on removing any & all leaf, then treating any which appears thereafter, & seeing if that sorts it. It's royally peeing me off now. It's mocking me.

 

[daleyd]

I don’t think anyone was suggesting letting it grow inside a cavity wall Here’s our garden wall, every couple of years we trim it away from the house but it’s been there as long as we’ve lived here (20 years) and god knows how many years before that and the wall underneath is still sound. In fact it seems to have protected the mortar compared to other exposed areas of the wall. And it’s not even a very good wall, it’s stone and very uneven with big gaps. As far as I can tell it’s never damaged the wall one bit, but of course your mileage may vary.

While I wouldn’t blame anyone for getting rid on their house it’s great for wildlife in the garden.

 

[Gareth J]

Just keep hacking at the sticky out bits and, if it's gotten too unruly, hack a lot off. If the wall is sound, with a pair of loppers you should be able to peel it all off without too much hassle. Is a nice addition to a hard garden wall. Wouldn't be too keen on it on my house though.