Although ivy may look beautiful, it can cause damage if its vines spread over trees, buildings, walls and fences.
A gardening fanatic asked Facebook group Gardening UK for advice on how to remove the plant after it overran his garden fence.
He wrote: “What’s the best way to kill the ivy, to get rid of the fence and boundary walls?”
When ivy starts to climb over a fence, it can be a big problem and it’s important to get this under control before the roots grow and sink deeper into the tree.
If the wood is not treated, the wood surrounding the roots can begin to decay and decay.
In response to David’s cry for help, some green-fingered fans suggested pouring boiling water over the ivy, while others argued that this wouldn’t work because it doesn’t actually kill the plant, meaning it just burns again and again.
These gardeners emphasized the importance of cutting branches from the roots before digging up the plant.
One wrote: “Cut it off at the base, pull as much as you can and the rest will die off. Then you have to dig up the roots. That’s the only way to get rid of this plant forever.”
Another added: “You have to chop it at the base and cut pieces off the growing part. It will die eventually, but this is the only way to kill it, and then remove all the pieces that die.”
“Cut at the base, let the branches die, then pull out (preferably in September or later due to nesting birds),” wrote a third.
“If you want to prevent it from happening again, dig and dig, the roots will spread and you’ll probably be pulling up ivy shoots for years, but the little shoots are easy to manage.”
And a fourth advised, “Cut it at the base, dig right out, and the fence ivy will die permanently pretty quickly and never come back.
“When dead, pull it off your fence. It’s less likely to damage the fence if you can wait and let it die.”
