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I have been fighting English Ivy that is climbing trees on my property. I have been successful using the "hack and squirt" method. This involves cutting a gash in the bark deep enough to expose the cambium layer and dabbing a little herbicide in the exposed pocket. I cut one gash for each half-inch diameter of the stem. I try to spread the gashes out so each is not directly over any other, but sometimes this isn't possible, and I use a "ladder" of gashes, about twice as many as I would if spacing them around the stem.
I use full strength Imazapyr (Polaris AC) and apply it to the gash with a small brush. It takes weeks to kill the plant, but it is "systemic" so it goes down into the roots and kills any part of the plant using that root system. This also kills ground runners connected with the climbing stem.
I have also sprayed English Ivy with Triclopyr (Garlon 4), but I haven't yet perfected getting it to penetrate the waxy surface of the leaves, so effectiveness is spotty. It looks like non-ionic surfactants should do the trick. I am considering spraying Imazapyr using methylated seed oil, but that will be more expensive.
Here is a link to a USDA paper on Spray Adjuvants:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd496999.pdf
It takes patience to defeat English Ivy, but it can be done!
I use full strength Imazapyr (Polaris AC) and apply it to the gash with a small brush. It takes weeks to kill the plant, but it is "systemic" so it goes down into the roots and kills any part of the plant using that root system. This also kills ground runners connected with the climbing stem.
I have also sprayed English Ivy with Triclopyr (Garlon 4), but I haven't yet perfected getting it to penetrate the waxy surface of the leaves, so effectiveness is spotty. It looks like non-ionic surfactants should do the trick. I am considering spraying Imazapyr using methylated seed oil, but that will be more expensive.
Here is a link to a USDA paper on Spray Adjuvants:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd496999.pdf
It takes patience to defeat English Ivy, but it can be done!