Ivy

[PenCreed]

We used to have a patch at the back of our garden which we called The Wilderness. It was full of weeds, a massive buddleia, daffodils and ivy as ground cover, and last year we had it cleared out and turfed over. It would appear that it wasn't cleared as well as we'd thought as the daffodils have reappeared which doesn't bother me too much as I like them, but the sodding ivy is now coming through too! How can we get rid of it? I hate ivy at the best of times, but I definitely don't want it on our lawn! Do I just weedkiller it and then re-sow grass round it? Do I have to dig it all out again? Should we be complaining to the gardeners who did the work in the first place?

Water the area to moisten the soil to a depth of 12 inches, in this weather the ground may be this wet already. Lay a clear, plastic tarp over the weedy patch, and weigh down the edges with bricks or rocks. Over the course of six to eight weeks, the sun's rays will heat the soil under the tarp and kill the ground ivy and most other kinds of annual and perennial weeds or vinegar in a spray bottle - but try to not get it on other plants.

It's turf, not weeds, so the tarp sadly won't work without killing the rest of our lawn. (Tarp doing a sterling job in another part of the garden at the moment though). Spray it might have to be.

If you do spray it, add a few drops of washing-up liquid to the weed killer to cut through the shiny surface of the ivy leaves. As it’s lawn, could you run the mower over it? Not sure whether that would weaken it or not; might encourage further growth. Ivy is a bugger to get rid of!

OrdinaryWeed killer did nothing for our ivy. We bought one that was specifically for Ivy and It did the trick. It is coming from next door so it is a constant battle.

Don't blame the gardeners- ivy is really hard to get rid of, and daffodils are planted so deeply I'd be surprised if they managed to get all the bulbs out! If you use weed killer make sure it's specifically for weeds in lawns - don't use glyphosate. That way your grass will survive. It will take a few applications though. Keep at it.