Clearing ivy (a lot of ivy!)

[nodogz]

I'm clearing out the bottom of my garden. It's covered, and I mean covered, with ivy. It's about 5m x5m and hasn't been touched for ten years at my estimation of wood which is rotted underneath.

There's no access so I cant get a skip or mini digger. I'm going to have to do it the hard way but hope there are some tricks or tips

The soil underneath the ivy is really good except it's full of ivy roots -could I move this to mulch other bits of the garden. Like behind trees, not in flower beds.

Will I need to burn the ivy removed? I would think you could compost it?

I have no idea about what to do in the space after it's gone. Possibly just woodchip and add in raised beds for veg and some composters.

There are a few spots in the garden where we've got ivy and wild bits so there's plenty of wildlife. I'd just like this area to look non derelict!

Watching with interest. Previous owner planted ivy in our garden. I ripped it all out a few years ago and sprayed with weed killer but it grew back

I can’t really answer your question, I had a similar problem when I moved into my current house and spent a summer slowly slaying it and filling the green bin each week.

I would say be careful, I ended up having to go to hospital as ivy has something like a dust which gets in your eyes and lungs and irritates them. I ended up finishing the job wearing goggles and with a scarf wrapped around my head so I wouldn’t breath it in.

As a first step, cut it off close to the ground with loppers. It will die off and you can clear the top growth. (Leave some height though so you can see where it was, which will be useful.)
As it's well-established, the roots will be extensive, so what you do next will depend on your plans for the area around where the ivy was.
If you plan to just let the remaining plants grow, you don't necessarily need to do anything.
If you want to replant, I'd advise leaving it for a month or two to make sure the roots have died off, then dig it, at least a spade's depth, and pull any root you can find out.
If the roots are inter-twined with plants you want to keep, you will need to cut them off with secateurs or loppers, depending on the size.

There might be nests there now, I have nests in my ivy.

Can you leave it for autumn?

P.S. when you clear the top growth (after it has died off), it can go in your garden waste bin, or you could heap up any remainder near to where you have removed it from, and keep adding it to the bin as the weeks go by.
The other alternative is to make sure it's dead and then add it to a compost bin / heap.
Re-reading your OP, it sounds like you want to plant there again, so have a look at what I've suggested for the roots. The only advantage of ivy (over the miles of bindweed root I extracted last year) is that the roots are tough and should come up without breaking too much!

It's on the ground and I'm 99.9% certain there's no nests in it. I think this because the dogs like to jump in it and they would have found any nests I was more worried about rats/mice (luckily I have big boots)

It is an enormous job. Looks like at least one to two metres of garden waste (branches etc) and old soil (really nice soil - this was a very much loved garden a few decades ago) all wrapped in a thick blanket of ivy with a smattering of bindweed.

Could be worse I suppose, at least it's not brambles!

If you cut the branches up with secateurs/ loppers as appropriate, you'll be surprised how much you can get in a garden waste bin!
If you've got bindweed though, that is a whole different ballgame. You will need to go very slowly and look through the soil you're digging. The roots will be either yellow or white, depending on whether or not the outer coating had been stripped. It breaks easily.
I've learnt to spot it a mile off, having sorted out an area of my garden (long story) measuring about 48 by 3 feet roughly which was riddled with the stuff. You will need patience and time! Good luck - you'll get there in the end.

I would think you could compost it? I put mine on my compost heap, but in the compartment I reserve for really slowly rotting things - this compartment gets emptied only about once in 5 years.

God you are giving me flashbacks!!

I hand cleared a similar amount over two years using my green bin and sheer will power.
I was so disciplined and filled up the green bin to the top every. Fortnight.
I started at the ends and didnt do too much hacking away and worked back to the roots. I was careful to dig out as much as I could. It was VERY established.
It is now almost completely done with no chemicals (tiny bit of regrowth from the two giant remaining roots) I had huge success cutting open the roots or drilling holes and pouring in salt

And i second wearing protective eyewear and long sleeve tops with gloves. Ivy is HORRIBLE. Having had so much of it in my garden has given me a real hatred for it

Can you cope with leaving a little? Ivy supports a huge amount of wildlife and as a result will benefit the rest of your garden. A small patch that you keep on top of will do wonders.

Did the same just last autumn. Ivy is incredibly easy to pull up. The large trunks can be cut then the roots dug up but I really wouldn’t bother about the smaller roots: the majority will come up with the stems, those that don’t can just be pulled up when they sprout and are obvious little plants and easy to lift roots and all.
I was dreading job. Was much easier than I imagined, got it done in one day and all I have to do now is keep an eye and pull up a few young plants every now and then.

Ivy is a long slow battle I have found. You can’t get rid in one go, you just have to remove as much of the plants and roots as you can and then keep going back and removing fresh regrowth as soon as it appears. It will gradually weaken but its long and tedious process I am 4 months in and I am just about winning, bit by bit.

I cleared a 3mx3m patch in a bed earlier this year. Filled many sacks with it and took it to the tip. I then dug over the bed and mulched it. It is now replanted and I keep an eye out for ivy but only a tiny amount has popped up so far which I have pulled out from the roots.

My recent house move had this problem we joked calling it ivy house. Anyway we went at it every spare moment, yank as much as you can and then we found this thing below worked really well as you shuv in the ground and twist and then it brings the roots up
like spaghetti.

It’s hard graft but I have no signs of ivy I the borders and they were a matted mess.

Draper 28163 Soft Grip Handle Garden Tiller www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BWRAS3E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_73581KJFAWCJXD09TGQ6?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We took it to the tip also in those big ton bags.