If it ain't snails it bleeding new ivy shoots killing my plants!!

Have the same in my garden Steve, my mind was made up for me by the birds, they absolutely love it and I love them in my garden so I clip it back in summer after nesting is over and keep an eye out for any tendrils coming up in the wrong place.........

I don't know , Steve, but I've got exactly the same problem. The ivy covers the fence beautifully...but it's starting to strange the plants! i ahd decided to just keep cutting it back...but it is an never-ending task...a real dilemma! if you come up with an answer, let me know please! Good luck!

Like lincslass says birds do like ivy, and it does cover your fence, so perhaps just keep cutting it back, let me know what you decide.

The only thing with cutting it back is I'd probably lose about 75% of it as its dead or dying from 3/4 downwards. Not been clipped or looked after in 2-3 years so its gone wild. If I get rid of dead then might aswell lose the lot!!

Thats true, but perhaps if cut back it may come back ok, there again it would be less work after if you take it out, if you cut it as far down to the bottom as you can then the ivy on the fence will die back on its own.

I had the same problem on my back wall. i got so fed up with it choking other plants I got rid of it. I had a bit of a job trying to prise it away from the wall it was so tight i couldn't get grip on it, so what I did was cut thro it about a foot from the ground,left what was on the wall and just dug what I could of the root, and when what was on the wall had started to die off, I pulled it off with ease, less creepy crawlies then too I just keep a check on any new shoots that appear. I didn't realise tho, until I got rid of it, my husband had actually planted it ha ha. As for birds, I feed them regularly thro-out the season and I have enough shrubbery for them. so basically I could live without Ivy!!!

I tried to get rid of it for many years without success so I added a variagated as well ,now the two grow together........

I remember when i got rid of dead ivy in the far corner it was a nightmare to get off the fence in places. God knows what the whole entire fence will be like. It might be the ivy thats keeping it up! lol. Not sure our landlord would replace the fence if it fell down! lol

Might be easier for you just to trim back occasionally as Lincslass says.Don't do it all at once,live with it a few days and trim again. Ours is up a fence and intertwined in conifers,I just have a good prune-if the mood takes me lol.
It depends whether or not you want to make this an ongoing task :)

Still undecided this morning on what to do. Just the thought of being all cramped up trying not to tread on flowers. If it was easy access then don't think i'd have any hesitation!
Might just trim the bottom to see how akward it is and go from there!
Thanks for all the comms guys!!

We moved here 3 years ago and garden so neglected Ivy had grown off walls across lawn - and almost strangled a white lilac.

Removed it from lawn and trees and cut it further back early autumn.We now just clip it away from base of walls to keep it off borders.We have the traditional English Ivy that very invasive but has the lovely seed heads birds and insects seem to love.

We also have a duck nesting in it so guess it just has to stay ...so up to you Steve sorry cant recall the guys name but he stripped ivy from old walls and repainted them made a world of difference to his garden.Much more space and light. If the cons outweigh any benefits ..

Apart from being a wildlife friendly garden our walls are dry stone with no mortar and stripping ivy off them could be a large re - building project ..so our choice would be to keep it but can fully understand why many choose otherwise.

Thanks for that BB.
There's no nests in ours or not that i'm aware just plenty of spiders which i'm not a great fan off. Just going to trim the bottom for now just to keep away from the new plants/shrubs and maybe totally remove early winter.

Aye Steve thats a real dilemma in a wildlife garden the plants most gardeners hate nettles thistles bramble ivy etc the wildlife love so we just compromise to ensure we dont get totally over run with it !

i had ivy till i changed the back fence and new pond area, but alot died off as i had to take it up for fence, i still have some though and i love ivy, its a real thug though, im just going to check for shoots each day if i have to, so its entially up to you steve, hard work taking it all up and then as you say have to redo fence, but if thats what you want its worth it in the end, it will look bare at first but you could have more clematis then, im sure you will make the right decision ;o))

Keep it Steve, just cut it back. I was persuaded to have mine dug out and now I have lost my sparrows! Mr and Mrs Blackbird came back this year to nest and of course there is nowhere for them. One of the worst decisions I have made....:o((