Garden advice

[davidjpowell]

After a recent house move, we seem to have a large garden to look after which has been well landscaped, but I suspect a little neglected recently.

I'm fairly sure that if we do not get on top op if it quickly, we will regret it...

The garden is set into a hill, with various levels of flower bed, along a set of stairs. One side of this is not too bad, with some weeds etc to get control of, but I can cope.

But the left hand side seems to have been taken over by ivy. This seems to start at the bottom of the hill, and spreads all the way back. It's taken over the lower beds completely, and is making a start on the higher ones.

I've cut a lot out, but the problem is the entire flower bed in the picture seems to be ivy or ivy root. What's the best way to get this under control?

We also have two tree's which have suffered in the winter. I do not know what they are, but we have been told by two people who should know what they are talking about, that 1. they are dead, and 2. They will come back... Any votes on this would help as these two pieces of advice do not seem particular comfortable sitting next to each other.

 

[trapperjohn]

Monty Don said a couple of weeks ago. "A tree is not dead until it has been dead for a year. jonnyboy will be along soon with an answer I'm sure.

Ivy - Got a garden full of it. My answer is a pair of them trousers with knee pads in and just keep pulling them roots out. Never ending.

 

[davidjpowell]

Hate the stuff. It's all over the front of the house as well. Looks pretty till it grows.

 

[renault12ts]

I have the same tree as you...though all the fronds have fallen off now. I have been told that if cut back it will come again.

However in our case the tree seems to be weeping (a bit like a rubber tree might weep) about 30cm from the bottom. I am therefore assuming the worst.

 

[trapperjohn]

Looks like the tree nearest the house is robbing you of a lot of light and will be home for all sorts of beasties which will migrate/fly into the house through open windows.

(Hark is that the sound of a chainsaw firing up in Sunny Donny)

 

[wemorgan]

My parents had a similar tree. Two hard winters sadly killed it, looking very similar to yours.

As for the ivy, I suggest Roundup. But this needs using on living ivy and it will kill pretty much everything it contacts, so use wisely. Afterwards I'd cover the soil with a permeable membrane, then replant as you wish by making small slits in the membrane. Cover the rest with chippings or similar. Alternative to the Roundup is just dig as deep as you can be bothered to pull up the mass of roots it spreads, then use the membrane.
IMHO.

 

[davidjpowell]

Looks like the tree nearest the house is robbing you of a lot of light and will be home for all sorts of beasties which will migrate/fly into the house through open windows.

(Hark is that the sound of a chainsaw firing up in Sunny Donny)

Photo is deceptive. This is from the first floor window... Wee beasties have yet to be experienced, but as long as it's not going to harm the tree would like to remove the dead fronds

 

[sl300 ireland]

Those trees are dead the heavy frost killed them all and if they were coming back you would have seen it by now

Ivy just keep hacking at it,this will keep you busy every time you are bored

good tip cut it at the bottom and let it die and then remove

 

[stevieb15]

Just cut the ivy off as close to its roots as possible, everything above will die.
The others are dead but it wont do any harm to leave them for the summer to make sure.

 

[Rich27]

Those trees are dead.
I used to have two of them in my last house,
I really looked after them by making sure the dead leafs were removed and no snails and other nastys could live in them.
They should have already flowered (weird thing growing out of the top with tiny white flowers on) by now.

Sorry, they are dead.

 

[renault12ts]

The tree is a Cordyline australis (or cabbage palm). If cut off right at the bottom of the trunk it will (in many cases) regenerate.

 

[HR17]

Try glyphosate on the ivy. Kills everything, so be careful around plants you want to keep, but is very effective.

 

[del320]

Google Ammonium Sulphamate. Nanny state EEC regs have banned it as a weedkiller but it is still readily available, although marketed as a "compost accelerator".

Branded as Dax Root Out, it is not cheap but it will do what none of the watered down rubbish in garden centres can.

(Apparently its licence was withdrawn as the manufacturers were not prepared to retest it at huge expense and using animals)

 

[Dieselman]

Those trees do look rather dead. We've had a few suffer this Winter.

for the Ivy, I would think any root killer dabbed onto the leaves or a copper nail driven into the thickest stem you can find will kill the whole root chain of that plant.

We had a horrible tree (can't remember the name) in the front garden and after cutting it down and digging the root bowl out it kept shooting. Copper pipes full of root killer did the trick nicely.

 

[davidjpowell]

Will the root rotting down affect the soil if I have used root killer? I don't really want to form a barren flower bed that I cannot plant in if I can help it.

I had hoped to just get rid of some of the Ivy, but it seems to be an all or nothing approach is the only thing that will work..

 

[wemorgan]

This is where Roundup is very effective. It's bio-degradable. You can usually replant on the soil within 2 weeks of treatment.

 

[jonnyboy]

You want roundup ultra 3000 for the ivy. Use it carefully, mix up at about 27/28 mls/litre (more than recommended) and use a sprayer. You will need 3-4 applications to kill off the ivy.

The palms have likely gone. Get a bow saw or similar, cut the forked trunks back about a foot and see what happens. if theres nothing within a month cut them back to 2 feet off the ground and try again.

 

[davidjpowell]

You want roundup ultra 3000 for the ivy. Use it carefully, mix up at about 27/28 mls/litre (more than recommended) and use a sprayer. You will need 3-4 applications to kill off the ivy.

The palms have likely gone. Get a bow saw or similar, cut the forked trunks back about a foot and see what happens. if there's nothing within a month cut them back to 2 feet off the ground and try again.

Thanks very much for this. Palm's now down. Surprisingly smelly job. I'm not sure that one of the palms needs cutting further straight away. The centre of the trunk is black and far less fibrous than the other trunks.

 

[rascalmaster]

Those trees are dead.
I used to have two of them in my last house,
I really looked after them by making sure the dead leafs were removed and no snails and other nastys could live in them.
They should have already flowered (weird thing growing out of the top with tiny white flowers on) by now.

Sorry, they are dead.

+ 1.
we have 3 of those; all died due to the harsh winter :-(