By Last_rose
United Kingdom 
How to deal with ground taken over by ivy and bluebell (including the wildly invasive white Spanish bell) ground now infested with the bell bulbs and ivy seeds most of which lie on the surface and up to an inch or two below ground. Area too large to fork them out, and movement of earth tends to allow them to fall deeper into the soil. Thought of removing top soil with digger but again, fear most seeds will fall through. Anything you know that can actually kill the seeds/bulbs without disturbing soil? Very grateful for any advice.
14 Aug, 2014
Answers
I wonder whether using a flame thrower might be a good start. It would burn off the seeds on the top and you could then tackle the regrowth as it appears.
14 Aug, 2014
That's a pretty good idea, Steragram. Won't get rid of the ivy and bulbs long term, but will destroy what's on the surface.
14 Aug, 2014
Should be lots of fun too as long as you don't set fire to anything else...Better have a bucket or two of water on standby as we do when we have a bonfire (been glad of them sometimes!)
14 Aug, 2014
I recall your previous queries being answered with requests for more info, to which you did not respond.
The 'seeds' lying on the top of the soil will not be ivy seeds, they're much more likely to be bulbs, either from the bluebells or some other bulb (one of the white flowered alliums has a tendency to have lots of little bulbs just on or just below the soil surface).
Nothing will kill the bulbs themselves - there are no options other than attempting to scrape off as many bulbs as possible, then digging and extracting bulbs and ivy roots as you go. Major, woody ivy roots that cannot be dug out will need to be poisoned with SBK, a brushwood killer, which should be applied to holes drilled into the woody roots, or to deep cuts or slashes made to the roots.
Using machinery for the digging will likely just exacerbate the problem because it'll be harder to find bulbs and roots.
14 Aug, 2014