Smothering of ivy has been discussed from time to time in the natives forum. The majority opinion is that smothering ivy will not work and I agree. Reccommendations for getting rid of ivy are manual, mechanical, and chemical or mixtures of these methods. I ripped out a bed of ivy and planted a cover crop of cereal rye in the bed over the winter and had very little ivy come back. Other people claim success with other methods. I was not able to smother ivy to death even with old rugs and large asphalt shingles. Check out the Nature Conservancy's management profile on English Ivy and also www.noivyleage.org. Many other websites also have info on battling this pesty plant.

If you were targeting one area, you could construct some cut off walls/trenches around your lasagna bed and probably have success at smothering the ivy contained within the bed protected by cut off wall.

But you will probably never be able to kill all of the ivy without using a combination mechanical and chemical approach. :-(

I'll be the odd one out--and say I think it can be done.

You will have to smother all of it, no exceptions. I would even lasagna an extra additional area around the edge of the entire area, and I would use cardboard and a heavy mulch on top of whatever other layers you add. Also in this case it might not be a one time deal, you most likely will have to put down some more lasagna in problem areas.

Worse case scenario--you resort to manual/chemical solution.

good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: tropical garden photo blog

You can't smother it. I tried for 3 years. I used black 6-mil plastic, clear 6-mil plastic and 12" of lasagna layering, starting with several layers of cardboard. None of them worked. The Ivy grew out the sides of the plastic. When I pulled up the plastic, the Ivy looked dead, but it recovered in short order. It grew right up through the lasagna, even before the cardboard had decomposed.

Roundup mixed with surfactant, sprayed, rubbed on by hand and painted on, on the warmest days of it's growing season, and then mechanical removal, was all that worked. I'm still not finished, but I'm way ahead of it now, and will eventually defeat it.

I had ivy, and now I don't.

Donn had ivy and still does.

nuf said~

Ivy has root systems that go everwhere and a branch of ivy in one spot can be fed from roots that are 200' away. I think it might be possible to smother ivy, if you got it early before it had a chance to take over everything.

I think the success of smothering would be greatly dependant upon how large the ivy patch is... I've seen huge patches of ivy that covered acres of lawn, trees and houses.

English ivy is an enormous problem here in the NW. It has invaded greenbelts and natural areas all over and is a listed noxious weed. Entire task forces have been formed to remove and keep it out of parks and other public spaces and there are numerous publications devoted entirely to recommedations for removal and control. The one issue they all have in common is that eradication is complicated and labor intensive - smothering or attempting to smother with lasagne methods or any other layered material (i.e., landscape fabric, plastic) does not work.

Manual removal is the most effective method - grubbing out all the vines and every bit of root and routinely pulling all seedlings or shoots. Chemical control is not considered as effective as the leaves have a very waxy cuticle that resists herbicide penetration and ivy is considered tolerant of most common preemergents. Glyphosate (RoundUp) can be used successfully on young plants in early spring or triclopyr can be applied to cut stems.

The heat of the semitropics is certainly conducive to more rapid composting and decomposition - perhaps that is what provides the success you report in smothering this beast down there. It ain't gonna work up here in colder climes! Been there, done that.

Which Ivy are you talking about? "Hedera helix", "H. canariensis", "H. colchica", (I am assuming no one is talking about the "Rhus" species), or another cultivar not generally listed? Some are easier to eliminate than others.