How To Remove Ivy Tendrils From Vinyl Siding
While lush green ivy growing up a wall or trailing across a fence can lend classic ambiance to your yard removing the ivy when you need a change isn t always an easy task.
How to remove ivy tendrils from vinyl siding. Ivy holds itself in place with these suckers casting tendrils that grab onto and wedge into every crack or space they can. We recently bought a house that was half covered in ivy. I ve had ivy growing on stucco and steel siding. Decided to try magic eraser and while it takes elbow grease it completely removed the sucker marks.
We had boston ivy growing on white vinyl siding and metal trim of garage the little black sucker marks were impossible to remove. If you think pulling the vines off your structure will do more harm than good first kill them by cutting them to 4 to 6 inches above the ground. They can creep between masonry and stone joints under vinyl siding and into the mortar between bricks. We cut the roots and let the ivy die but we noticed all these little suction cups that held the ivy to the brick and wood siding.
Sorry to say i found no easy way. For wood siding use a paint scraper to remove the ivy shoots from the surface. And if you ve ever pulled ivy off a wall you know that the tiny roots adhere to the brick or siding like glue leaving behind a maze of fuzzy tendrils that can leave your wall looking like a mess. I tried scraping them off and used a wire brush to remove them but didn t put a dent in the problem.
Simply removing ivy leaves and stems is not enough as tiny roots and fuzzy tendrils remain firmly adhered to walls. Since ivy roots become more firmly stuck onto walls over time you should remove the roots promptly using basic supplies. Remove a chunk of the stem so there s a gap between the stem and stump of the vine. Here are some tips on how to remove ivy without damaging your walls.
What product can i use to safely remove the. When you remove ivy that has grown up your siding you re usually left with dark stains and tiny suckers all over the wall. We didn t like it and we were told to cut the roots and let the ivy die and then just tear it down from the walls. Always check to ensure the ivy suckers have not invaded your gutters which can severely affect the water drainage in your home.
Remove the suckers as soon as they have died to prevent siding rot and oxidation. A power washer took off some from the steel siding and didn t hurt the siding but i used a knife to remove it. Ivy and walls seem to go hand in hand in landscape design but it takes a good bit of maintenance to keep it pruned and tidy. Removal of ivy is vital to the preservation of masonry surfaces.
What s the best way to remove them.