Can I kill roots from a plant if I can't dig them all out?

Hey guys,

It's easter weekend so thought I would take this opportunity to start work on my garden

I started with the back of the garden clearing all the plants that were growing there, I don't know what they all were but when they grew they took over! We moved into the house last year and while we decorated inside the garden was neglected and one of the plants (I think it was ivy) managed to wrap it's self round my washing line pole all the way to the top and took me a good 2 hours to get off once I tackled it!

Any way today I wanted all these plants etc gone so I got to work, my question is I cleared all the plants roots that were there except one which is the ivy, I got the main chunk of the root out but as for about 4/5 of the smaller roots they go down under my neighbours fence and I just can't pull them out and there's no way I can pull them out their side either, I also have two more going deep down under my shed, as I said I've cut the main root out which these led to but I cant get these ones up, am I right in thinking these will grow back? is there a way I can kill them off without digging them up? Each root is from half a cm to 1cm in diameter. I have attached some pictures of what I have done and the roots.

 

hi , well you are getting stuck in , if me I would just cut them off and dig a mini trench and cut as you go I would do similar next to the fence and any roots you see just cut them out dont try pulling you will do your back in .

You may get a little regrowth but just cut any when you see it but at this time of year as the sap is rising I doubt you will see the one growing by the shed again. I have ivy on a lot of my fences and it just get a annual trim to keep it in shape and to stop it getting top heavy, looks neat and tidy.

If growing from next door ? you cultivating your side will keep it in check as well , I personally like ivy great for the wildlife.

Spruce

 

If you have any long loppers all the better, you can cut them without too much bending!

 

Get as much as the root out as possible but then the main thing is whenever you see any new growth cut it off as soon as you see it and eventually it will die. Remember that a plant needs green growth to feed itself and grow.

 

Hi DannyB, You'll be in for a long haul if you try to kill it off by attacking new growth. IME they don't give up easily. Perhaps a dab of SBK brushkiller on the new leaves would be a quicker option? If you've got kids or pets that might access the treated growth, cover it with plastic sheet/old compost bags weighted down.

 

Thanks for the reply guys, looks like I will just keep cutting it down if it decides to grow again then, the reason I'm clearing the area is I will be putting decking where the shed is in my photo so just trying to kill off everything in that area so nothing grows under the decking, I won't be doing the decking side of things until next year so plenty of time for me to keep cutting them roots down for them to eventually die out

 

Ahh really, ok could I put that stuff on to the open roots instead of when they eventually leaf?

 

It claims to kill off tree stumps, so works on woody stuff.....it's worth a try!