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Getting rid of ivy is less than easy. A product called SBK is your best chance, mix it with paraffin (I can't remember the dilution, try 4:1 and don't smoke), this will help to break down the waxy cuticle on the leaves and allow the poison to penetrate. Repeat the treatment a week later, when you hack the lot out (2 days should do it) another week later, drill any major ivy roots and fill with neat SBK. This will also permanently bugger any foliage it touches, but doesn't wreck the soil. Warn the client they may have to re-treat any regrowth.
ColinTheBald-
^This. SBK is srs bsns. If you’re applying it in a commercial context you’ll need the chemical data sheets available and flag it on the r.a. Personally I’d advise against using it neat on surface roots- EcoPlug treatment is safer for environment/wildlife and more effective. Ivy is the cockroach of the horticultural world and as Colin says you’ll absolutely need to reapply over a few months. If you can lay your hands on some Ammonium sulfamate and mix it into a paste with water then that’s another option. Application rates can be hit and miss tho.
We can no longer buy it commercially as a herbicide but still available as a soil accelerant.
Another option is a shallow grind with a stump grinder over the areas with lots of surface roots- be careful of the tree roots tho.
edmundro
Thank you and good shout on the sharps gloves.
Its roughly the size of a 7 aside football pitch. I'll be working with one other person and neither have major experience in this field and I don't want to undercharge. I'm sure just a clear out would only take a couple of days but I can see getting all the ivy roots out a very long process as it hasn't been touched in years. They really want to not have to deal with this part of the site again after the jobs been done.