Best Tool for Removing English Ivy From the Ground
2011-06-22 Initial post
The other month I took some tools to the local Ace Hardware to get them sharpened (that’s one thing that Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t do—at least not the ones around my area). One of the tools was a half-moon edger (see more about this tool on my other post here). I didn’t want the edger to have a very sharp edge, but it ended up being sharpened like an axe.
The sharp edger ended up working to my advantage this past Sunday when I started removing the ivy from my backyard. Last year I had done some research on how to remove ivy manually and some people mentioned a type of Japanese garden machete or axe thing so I went to HD looking for something like that and ended up with a hatchet thing. The hatchet didn’t work well and I returned it.
Anyway, a sharp half-moon edger seems to be the best tool that I can think of for removing ivy from the ground. As you pull the ivy and its roots/vines come up, you can slam down on them with the edger and make a nice, clean cut. The edger is also safer and easier to use because you make an up-down motion instead of a swinging motion as with an axe or hatchet. I was able to make a lot of progress after a few hours of work and didn’t need to use sprays like I did last year. I plan to dedicate a few more weekends this summer to getting rid of all the visible ivy in my yard.
This site has some good info on ivy removal, but doesn’t really mention any innovative tools. With the new use I have for the edger, it’s become my favorite garden tool and is indispensable.
So if you want the best tool to remove English ivy from the ground, get an edger and get it sharpened like an axe. I’m not sure about the quality of the steel in the cheap edgers, so those might not sharpen well.
2011-06-22 Initial post
The other month I took some tools to the local Ace Hardware to get them sharpened (that’s one thing that Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t do—at least not the ones around my area). One of the tools was a half-moon edger (see more about this tool on my other post here http://sysadmin-e.com/manual-gardening-tools). I didn’t want the edger to have a very sharp edge, but it ended up being sharpened like an axe.
The sharp edger ended up working to my advantage this past Sunday when I started removing the ivy from my backyard. Last year I had done some research on how to remove ivy manually and some people mentioned a type of Japanese garden machete or axe thing so I went to HD looking for something like that and ended up with a hatchet thing. The hatchet didn’t work well and I returned it.
Anyway, a sharp half-moon edger seems to be the best tool that I can think of for removing ivy from the ground. As you pull the ivy and its roots/vines come up, you can slam down on them with the edger and make a nice, clean cut. The edger is also safer and easier to use because you make an up-down motion instead of a swinging motion as with an axe or hatchet. I was able to make a lot of progress after a few hours of work and didn’t need to use sprays like I did last year. I plan to dedicate a few more weekends this summer to getting rid of all the visible ivy in my yard.
This site http://www.ivyout.org/ivyremove.html has some good info on ivy removal, but doesn’t really mention any innovative tools. With the new use I have for the edger, it’s become my favorite garden tool and is indispensible.
So if you want the best tool to remove English ivy from the ground, get an edger and get it sharpened like an axe. I’m not sure about the quality of the steel in the cheap edgers, so those might not sharpen well.
