How To Kill English Ivy Vines With Salt & Duct Tape DIY

English ivy is an invasive species...here's an inexpensive DIY life hack to kill it. After dealing with the large patches of English Ivy, I had some large vines to remove. These vines were very thick and deep rooted and needed to be killed instead of pulled up. Here's how I did it with table salt and duct tape. Dead English Ivy makes me happy.
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[@bigmac1371]

Followed your method and it killed all the stumps in about 4 months,i occasionally checked and topped up salt level. I have now dug up the dead roots with minimum effort. Thanks a lot for great advice!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome! Thanks for the update on your english ivy killing success. I'm sure replenishing the salt periodically helped as well. Thanks for the feedback.

[@soonerbred22]

Happy for you big Mac. These annoying vines from Satan keep growing in my grass, sidewalk, patio and out my ass

[@MrAquinas1]

@@GreenShortzDIY Another pro gardener endorses your method but recomends drilling a small long hole in the center of the stalk so it absorbs the salt water more efficiently.

[@rhythmfield]

@@soonerbred22 English Ivy are Satan’s Tentacles for sure

[@rockyquinn3374]

Will this spread throughout to the vibes creeping across the grounds as well?

[@cruisermax]

I like this! Another idea, to eliminate the duct tape portion, is just to drill out the center of the ivy, and fill it with salt. A faster way might be to occasionally fill the reservoir with white vinegar.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Sounds like a good option. Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks for watching.

[@susanminer1291]

@@GreenShortzDIY I'm going to try this idea, but use 30% vinegar. Hoping it will kill my ivy quicker?

[@henryjoeballs]

Nice

[@rhythmfield]

This is GREAT. And thank you very much for being one of the rare responsible citizens and speaking out against horrific poisons, used every day and everywhere in the world, such as “Roundup”

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching, Greg.

[@MrAquinas1]

@@GreenShortzDIY Did you consider drilling a long pilot hole down the center of those branches to insure absorbtion of the salt?

[@Tonisuperfly]

@@MrAquinas1I think I might add that to the mix

[@quinnstory4098]

@@MrAquinas1that’s a great idea too

[@jamalydude]

Thank you for all the ivy videos, just bought a new house that has an ivy issue. I battled it and ripped it all up only to miss the mother root lol and now with these tips I can deliver the final solution to the Vines and free the neighborhood from these pests! May my efforts be looked upon with joy and respect!!

[@jamierussellmowatt]

I liked the part where he killed the ivy with table salt.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Jay Russell you should have said “Spoiler Alert,” because you gave away the whole plot. :-) just kidding. Thanks for watching.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

:-) English ivy makes me salty. Thanks for watching.

[@debgorham14]

@@GreenShortzDIY I am going to have to try the salt/duct tape method. We have been fighting a losing battle with english ivy for decades and cant go out and manually remove any longer. Its taken over my house, trees and yard. I even tried round up once and ivy laughed.

[@jub8891]

that was the best part

[@kiragodbe5221]

@Nasreen Ahmed you must have had poison ivy, not English ivy

[@norbury2496]

Followed your method, to the letter & worked perfectly. Took about 4months.. Thank you.. Ivy is deeeed!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome! Thanks for the update! Ivy no mo. Thanks for watching.

[@cathyfitzpatrick9384]

I tried your method and I had a great result I will be very grateful something so simple and doesn't endanger any animals So big hugs and thank you again.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Yay! Glad you did it Cathy. Thanks for letting me know. :-)

[@user-gw9tu9qf4j]

I used this about six months ago and it worked brilliantly. thanks so much!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome. Glad you had salty success killing your English Ivy vines. Woo hoo! Thanks for your comment.

[@johnsalmond]

THANKS for showing us a way that takes more work but doesn't leave behind an even bigger problem for which there will be NO easy chemical fix!!

[@angusbremner3610]

Good stuff. It may already have been mentioned but an even more environmentally friendly method would be to drill a hole into the top of the stumps and fill with the salt and water - eliminating the use of the tape. Angus

[@southernwanderer7912]

That's a wonderful idea! I watched a video several years ago that said to use a gallon of white vinegar and a cup of salt, heat until salt dissolves. When cook, add a little dish-washing liquid. Put in a sprayer and spray the leaves of ivy, Creeping Charlie, etc. that you want to get rid of. The dish soap helps it adhere to the leaves. The leaves take in the salt/vinegar, which takes it to the roots, thereby, killing the unwanted plant.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for the feedback. And the recipe for the spray. :-)

[@ingridburling8731]

But what is some of this solution gets onto the host tree or plant? Isn't it going to kill that too?

[@southernwanderer7912]

@@ingridburling8731 Just spray the leaves of the plants you want to kill. The leaves will bring the salt and vinegar into the plant's root system and kill it. Just avoid getting it on the leaves of the plants you want to keep. Use a small sprayer if necessary. If the solution touches the bark of a tree while spraying, it won't hurt the tree because it won't penetrate the bark.

[@patthomas8164]

I like your simple, low impact recommendation, thank you

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Hi Pat...I know it has been a year, but thanks for watching. :-)

[@ChadAmI80]

Thanks for this idea. We just bought a house and the previous owner let the ivy get waaay out of control. We saw pics of the house on Google Maps engulfed in vines back in 2013. I believe she had them removed from the house in 2017 when they replaced the roof. As the weather has warmed up in the past few weeks here in Pittsburgh, I started to see the vines creeping towards the house. I cannot wait to get a dry day to get out there and try your technique! I will report back on how it goes in the fall.

[@beckywilliams9703]

You are my hero! English ivy is the bane of my existence. I am trying this over winter.

[@being_frank_with_you]

It's been a while how did it work?

[@barbarajeanbraceletlady3090]

I’m so happy for this video. I don’t like using chemicals, and this is a much better way to be rid of the vines climbing my shrubs.

[@keithwhittington1322]

I've been fighting it for two years. This is fantastic! Thanks a million.

[@theresashepherd2604]

Cannot wait to try this method!! Without using poison this will be great. Thank you for sharing.

[@B30pt87]

OMG, Thank You! I am dealing with Ivy crawling everywhere - also trees that look just like that one. I am so happy! I wouldn't use Roundup either, but I hacked some of the thickest vines off at the ground, and it was a LOT of work. (I subscribed.)

[@maerieariel4376]

Genius. I'm going to do this. What an elegant solution.

[@vanessasgram8]

What a great tip. We used to use Roundup but I like to keep that for impossible areas that nothing works on only. SO this is great--I tried a vinegar soak but that didn't work well at all! Salt it is! from now on! THANK YOU AGAIN for this tip.

[@wendeed4233]

I planned to go out and pull the ivy off of our chimney today and do something to stop it. I found your video and did as you instructed. Thank you so much!

[@juliagarrett3945]

What a great idea!! I’ve been looking for a way to get rid of trumpet vine without poison. Wonderful, earth friendly solution. Not to mention, I don’t want to be anywhere near Roundup.

[@XTCgy911]

The BEST video I've seen yet , THANKS !

[@trekpac2]

I found comments from 4 or 5 people saying that they tried it and it worked (ignoring all the comments saying they are going to try it). Thanks.

[@torvous]

Thank you for this! I'd been pouring vinegar and salt at the roots, but the larger vines are pernicious, so I'm going to try this next!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

+torvous excellent! Let me know your results. Thanks for watching.

[@ymiinar4014]

Thanks for presenting a great and safe alternative to chemicals. Vinegar and salt seem to do double duty a lot of the time, and the more who learn, the better for us all! I’m going to try this on some other vines growing up into my oak trees. This will include an attempt on Poison Ivy. I’ll report back.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Excellent. I like the idea of adding vinegar to the mix. Looking forward to your report. Thanks for watching.

[@LPallandre]

Hi, how did it go with the poison ivy?

[@EZchairchillen]

Still waiting on that report back....

[@annausta4246]

Oh I’ll definitely try this one. We’ve got so much ivy growing and taking over the trees, I couldn’t find a way to get rid of it. Thanks a lot for sharing. 😊

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching. Happy vine destroying. :-)

[@gingertankersley2997]

I'm really excited that Greenshortz has a solution for my English ivy problem. I'm pulling up lots from around my trees and landscaping. I will find the roots and will take them out with salt and that ever helpful tool, duct tape!

[@kaceybongarzone4977]

Yay! Thank you for a natural way to save the tree. I am going to try this next week.

[@gailpape2927]

Thank you! Trying to get rid of thick roots and vines. Will try this today!

[@MACHOO179]

I like your honesty when you said you were not sure if it would work, you tried and it worked, and now you have taken away the doubt for other people, I have literally just been asked by an elderly lady in the village where I live to try and get ivy off one of her tree's, hence why I came across your video, and I'm going to use this method as well as the normal way of just cutting 1-foot sections of the root away from the said tree, thanks for your video and I will keep this comment updated in time as to my progress. Just one more thing I'm just your average DIY'er 😂

[@GreenShortzDIY]

DIYers are never average. We are a cut above. Happy ivy slaying. Thank you for your feedback.

[@MACHOO179]

@@GreenShortzDIY Thank you. 👍🏻

[@jerrybennett6034]

I have been searching for a way to kill vines with minimal-to-no collateral damage. This is PERFECT! Thank you.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Yay! Happy vibe eradication!

[@mygoldfishrocks]

So yesterday I cut the bottoms off little zip lock bags that I had (from Hobby Lobby, they're like $2 for about 200 or 300 of them). Then I slipped the bottoms onto the cut tops of two types of unwanted plants - the first is Brazilian Pepper Trees, and the second is unidentified vines that have pretty much taken over our wall of bushes in our backyard (and choked out the bushes so much that many have died off). I then taped and sealed the bottoms of the bags onto the plant with duct tape. I filled the bags about 3/4 is the way (I tried to cover the top cut part of the plant). Then I squirted a little white vinegar just enough to saturate the salt, and zipped the bags shut. We'll see what happens. Your video was the inspiration. 👍

[@GreenShortzDIY]

I love it. Let me know how it goes. Thanks for watching.

[@jillwherry2172]

Just what I needed! I'm super excited to try!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Happy ivy hunting, Jill. Thanks for watching.

[@nedscrivner9893]

super glad to find this, I had been told that you could spray a salt solution on ivy and have the same effect? but I have 1/3-1/2 of a acre of ivy to get rid of and that would be to consuming, I did how ever cut the vines chocking my big trees last year and of course they are growing back, NOW I KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT!! awesome

[@HeyPlannerGurlHey]

Thanks shorts so excited to try this we have 2-3 30+ year old ivy trunks around our property. We keep trying to cut it down but this will work!!!

[@Edmondo51]

Wow!! It looks very good, I am going to do it and soon I will let you how it goes. Thank you very much

[@shofar-man]

I have ivy growing beyond reach up high trees. I am having some success with cutting vines close to the ground bunching the cut ends of the climbers and placing them in pill bottles of salt solution.

[@desmondehoppie4758]

Wonderful. Thank You for taking the time to make this video.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

You’re welcome. Thank you for watching.

[@amendippanesar]

This is brilliant Tom this is going to help in my garden

[@GreenShortzDIY]

+Amen Panesar Thanks Amen. It's time to get that garden planted. I just uploaded a how to video on building a raised bed. It is pretty simple...something you could do with your kids in a couple hours.

[@andreaharris6632]

Thanks for the video. I just read about salt, vinegar & also dish soap working to kill these wretched vines. I will be trying this out this weekend. I think I will try using vinegar instead of water though in hopes that it will work quicker.

[@loubino18]

Thx for the clear concise green video. My challenge is my Locus tree's bark has grown around the vines from the base to 12 ft up; I can use a ladder and get to individual vines but will I hurt the tree using salt since they appear to have grown together? Tree's about 25 yrs old, has been showing signs of distress compared to similar trees (less leaves, large branches fallen, etc.). THx in advance, appreciate your help!

[@alfredcalleja450]

You are a LEGEND! Thanks, I've got this problem, and this should fix it. Thanks again!

[@edgeofentropy3492]

HUGE thumbs up on this!!! I'm definitely trying this on wisteria and virgina creeper.

[@elizabethwilson9983]

Good to see, gives me hope as I’ve just cut ivy back & sprayed it with table salt & vinegar fingers crossed

[@Katydidit]

I am going to try that with some invasive vines in my veggie beds. I have been digging them out for 20 years!!

[@curtdorman9213]

I am going to try this. love it! I am an environmental science teacher and we always look for green solutions.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome. Thank you for teaching kids about our amazing planet. Thank you for watching.

[@AlirioSilva]

Thanks for sharing! Love that there are alternatives to Roundup and other kinds of poison. Going green is the way!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Yeessss! Behold the power of salt! Makes food tastier and kills English ivy...and that is tasty too. Thanks for watching.

[@JanRossi]

Totally great move. I will find the mother vine and do this. I just got started and I have 3 trees that are overrun. Thank you very much,

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Best of luck! Thank you for watching.

[@garyleidecker1993]

Wow a fantastic non toxic solution!!!! Thank you!!!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Glad to help. Thank you for watching.

[@susanbraddy2277]

That sounds very good and green. Will be giving it a go today and will also be interested in the time it takes. Will let you know thanks.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks Susan. I'd love to know the timeline. :-) Thanks for watching.

[@lorettajoy7275]

Fantastic, thank you so much! Here i'm dealing with not only English Ivy, but poison ivy (big hairy vines in places as thick as an arm), kudzu, and Virginia Creeper. So now, i be able to go after these with something that I can live with! But they can't, lol.

[@being_frank_with_you]

How's it going so far? Is everything dying? We're dying to know.!

[@manoharmenghani6149]

I have it on blockwall between us neighbors. I have cut it down with loppers etc about 2 years back but they have again grown back that at some place is about a foot deep. I have thought of taking a circular saw, bring the flat surface below blade height & then slide it along 60 ft wall. Do it at the height of every 1 ft.

[@tabathastaples7884]

Thank you for the video, I also can't wait to try it!!!!!!!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for watching, Tabatha. Good luck killing the ivy. :-)

[@anetazykova]

Thank you for your video. It really helped. I love it.

[@TishaRicks]

Thanks much. I have to try this method on my tree in my backyard. I will let you know the effectiveness and how long it took. Again thanks. 🤗

[@BestHeelInBusiness]

Hey im from uk great video. Would I have same results if I mixed a salt water solution and sprayed weeds and ivy 🤔

[@scottthomson700]

Drill holes down into the shoots and fill.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Yes. That would to kill the English ivy as well. No tape to clean up. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@harvbegal6868]

I'm gonna try this. The vines I'm dealing with have tiny little hair like tendrils or roots and the duct tape wont hold the water.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Let me know how Scott's idea works for you. Thanks for watching.

[@harvbegal6868]

GreenShortz DIY thanks for the informative video on getting rid of Ivy. I just salt and watered the drilled holes. Will let you know in a few months.

[@Millmannl]

@@harvbegal6868 Did it work?

[@raekc4839]

Sounds like a Great method! Wondering if adding vinegar in top with the salt would make it more lethal? I use vinegar, salt, dish detergent for general weed killer. I will definitely try this! My boxwoods, privet hedge and dogwood are covered with this horrible English ivy.

[@fotyfar]

Brilliant 👍👍

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for watching, Kaho.

[@user-yp1tg4xb8c]

i was wondering how is it possible that when you removed the duck tape after 3 or 4 months, there was still salt falling out? when i go to shelter under a tree to avoid the rain, i still end up receiving drops. and thats for a simple rainfall.So how does the rain avoid those spots?

[@cathyfitzpatrick9384]

Thank you it is useful and animal-friendly too thanks GreenShorts x

[@deborahcrow2045]

thanks for the tip as I have a LOT of it around here so I will begin the process and let you know how it does and length of time

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome, Deborah! I love to know you results. Happy ivy slaying! :-)

[@youdoer]

Will this work for a small tree stump? Do I need to worry about surrounding trees? Thanks.

[@margymckenzie7417]

this is great! much better than chemicals

[@mattgauck6518]

SO excited to try this! I recently moved into my first home that I own (!) and we have a lovely pine tree that is choked with English Ivy, and struggling to survive. The largest root near the base of the tree is about the circumference of my head in size, so I'll let you know if the salt works on such a beast of a root system. Do you have any tricks or tips for removing the recently-severed ivy in the canopy of the tree? thanks so much!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Yeah! Slay the beast! :-) I do have a video about removing the higher vines. It does involve waiting a while to allow the vines to loosen their grip on the tree. Let me know how it goes. Thanks for watching.

[@KingdomUploader]

Ours are huge as well; how did you fare with yours? Thanks!

[@Gillby47]

Thank you so much for this tip.I am in England and half my house is covered in ivy which I love but it is getting too much to control now.My ivy has very thick roots that grow out from tarmac at the bottom of the wall so can't be dug out.The guy who usually cuts back the ivy twice a year has removed it up to Six feet,we are now going to sit back a while and see if it starts to die off.

[@barbarapriestley9133]

What happens when it rains? Does it wash the salt out of the duct tape? I've also heard that hammering a couple of copper nails into the ivy base will kill it

[@TheChosford]

That's crazy! Thank you! I''m going to try this.

[@dereknoble5446]

BRILLIANT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH - TOP TIP

[@carlagarrett3244]

great idea!

[@895claudia]

Hi there how long did it take for the ivy to die? What do you do when it rains?

[@tfrank1326]

I have some english ivy I planted almost 10 years ago that would never grow where I wanted it. I let it die out. Now, in the past 3 or 4 years, it is coming up on the other side of my yard (not from neighbors, this is street side) about 30 feet or so from where it was planted. I keep cutting it back but it keeps going under the fence and climbing all up in my forsythia shrub! Going to try something like this but they are all tiny little vines at the moment, not the big thick limbs like you had on the tree. thinking of trying to dig and find the main root, cut it, apply salt to it (maybe with duck tape like you did and wrapping with a plastic bag so it stays in contact since not upright). I sure hope this works. SO tired of constantly cutting back this ivy. I'll never plant it again, even in a pot! :)

[@GreenShortzDIY]

T...I suggest pulling up as much of the English Ivy as you can by hand first. Try this after a day of rain when the ground is soft. Once you get to the salting, I think your plastic bag method could work nicely. Gather a bunch of vines, trim the ends all at once so they are even, add salt and water to a plastic grocery bag or ziplock and secure with duct tape or a rubber band. Let me know how this goes.

[@jholid6y]

I have the same problem, can’t wait to try it

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Awesome! Let me know if you have success! Thanks for watching.

[@itzabella100]

Thanks for this info......definitely going to try this....

[@balashivaramakrishana30]

very good suggestion

[@valeriamedici3649]

I've started the process have already noticed the leaves getting brown. Still, a long time to go, but it is promising!

[@cynthiafreed3612]

Thank you😊. Will try!

[@sassytheclassy_rose9778]

❤️ thank you for the video!

[@robintait5174]

What would you do for low vines like poison ivy.

[@LulzNZ]

Love your work! Any thing to keep chemicals out of the environment. I want to get rid of convolvulus without using chemicals - I wonder if this method will work.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Ahhh...the ever present Morning Glory. I'm dealing with that too. I think you'd need to make a liquid spray for that, versus a direct application of salt. Google "vinegar salt water ratio for killing weeds." That ought to get you something that will work, but still be organic. Thanks for watching.

[@johnstarkie9948]

Salt is a chemical!

[@132airsoft]

We've been struggling with English ivy for years and it's driving me nuts. I'm glad that I saw your video and would definitely give it a try. I am pretty sure it's going to work for me because I remember the good old days that I could get potassium nitrate from hardware stores to kill tree stumps.

[@SeanGonzalezMDHEXT]

So, did it work?

[@132airsoft]

@@SeanGonzalezMDHEXT mine aren't thick enough to be effective. There are very tiny ones that are hard to get rid of

[@SeanGonzalezMDHEXT]

Oof

[@christophermunn3819]

Thanks for this.

Great idea. Do you have to keep the brine reservoir topped up for those months, or is it just a single application and you leave it to dry off in its own time? Cheers

[@GreenShortzDIY]

+Tomás Dietz in this case, just one application wears enough. These were pretty thick vines though, so I think one salting ought to do it. Thanks for watching.

[@positivevibes4105]

Thank you for the incredible information and Brilliant tactic.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching.

[@charlieglendinning2372]

Thanks for this. I was about to buy Roundup. One thing I will probably do different is to replace the water with white vinegar. Seems to me it would "electrify" the action of the salt more powerfully... we'll see.

[@KingdomUploader]

did the salt with vinegar work even better? quicker? Thanks

[@ScottHead]

Do you have to repeat the salt application through the months? Great idea.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Hi Scott. One treatment took care of these vines. It likely depends on their initial health. :-)

[@vald53]

Can't wait to try this !

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Have fun! Thanks for watching.

[@TrioGarufaDotCom]

Thanks for that idea! I did this on the vertical growing ones. It dried out the ones where the salt and water didn’t leak out between the tape and the vine. We have lots of horizontal ones too. Some are up to 6 inches diameter(!) Now i’m trying to just drill a 1/2inch hole through the first 2 inches and fill that with salt since i can’t keep the salt on a cut horizontal vine. Hopefully that’ll work. Any other ideas? What about filling the holes with muriatic acid?

[@GreenShortzDIY]

I like your idea of drilling into the horizontal ones. On your really big ones, drill a hole every three feet or so. Not all the way through, of course. Like a cup. I think that is what you are suggesting. Right? Save the muriatic acid for the garage floor cleanup. :-) Thanks for watching.

[@mattchowbeach]

Hi, l like very much your style and the way you're always looking for green method. Just wanted to bring a little point that many people seem not to be aware of. Table salt often (or always?) contains additives like ferrocyanure. I think it's an anti-agglomerate. Any way, sorry for my poor English, I'm a Quebecker. I would use coarse salt maybe it doesn't contain that stuff. By

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for the input, Joe. And for the encouragement. Thank you for watching.

[@MarcoPolo881]

Thank-you for the plan, 'I shall try it!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for watching Mark. Good luck with your effort.

[@stevechance150]

Is there any risk to the tree by using this salt method on the attached vine?

[@katieloconti-5257]

Going to try this.Thanks

[@marcobagut]

You great man! I’ll try this!

[@Nhung271085]

Thank you for this video 😊.

[@Lilystesla2379]

I’m going to try it. It’s trunk is 7 inches growing up my oak tree.

[@slairdandraful]

Thank you, I have loads coming in from an overgrown neighbours garden, absolute pain. I didn't t want to use chemicals.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

+Sandra Laird since this is your neighbor's ivy, you might want to use the patch removal method using a lawn mower. I've got a video on that too. The salt method will kill it across the property line. Thanks for watching.

[@johnstarkie9948]

Salt is a chemical.

[@takisoundbruzer9821]

Water is a chemical.

[@MrRowdy14u]

I have a Honeysuckle vine thats trying to take over a Hydrangea shrub..Could I use this method.. Mainly...Would it harm my Hydrangeas shrub?

[@pamelabrown2001]

WOW THANKS for sharing

[@143951]

Would this also work for Oriental Bittersweet vines?