How do I get rid of brambles, ivy and other stubborn weeds?

Cutting back, removing roots and persisting through regrowth — the only approach that works on deep-rooted perennial weeds.

Difficulty: intermediate
Time: 3 hr
Read: 3 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Cut back to ground level, then dig out the root crown as completely as you can. Anything left regrows, so expect to return several times over a season. Repeated removal of regrowth exhausts the root eventually.

Brambles, ivy, bindweed and ground elder all store energy in extensive root systems, which is why cutting the top off does nothing lasting. Either the roots come out or the plant is exhausted by repeatedly removing its regrowth.

Safety

Wear thick gloves, long sleeves and eye protection — bramble thorns cause deep puncture wounds and ivy sap irritates skin. Check for wildlife before clearing dense growth, and never burn ivy, whose smoke is a serious irritant.

What you'll need

Thick gloves
Loppers or a pruning saw
Fork and spade
Eye protection (optional)
Heavy-duty bags (optional)

Step by step

Check for wildlife before clearing.Dense bramble and ivy shelter nesting birds, hedgehogs and other animals. Check thoroughly and avoid the nesting season where you can.
Cut everything back to about 30cm from the ground.It makes the roots accessible and shows you what you are dealing with. Bag the cuttings rather than composting bramble.
Dig out the root crown.For brambles, the crown is a woody mass at the base. Loosen a wide area and lever it out — this is the part that matters.
Follow and remove running roots.Bindweed and ground elder spread by underground runners, and every fragment regrows. Trace them rather than cutting them off.
For ivy on walls, cut the stems at the base first.Then wait several weeks for the growth above to die before pulling it off. Pulling live ivy off a wall takes the pointing with it.
Return every few weeks to remove regrowth.This is the actual method for anything you cannot fully dig out. Repeatedly removing green growth exhausts the root reserves over a season.
Cover cleared ground to suppress regrowth.Cardboard plus a thick mulch, or a light-excluding membrane for a season. Denying light finishes what digging started.
Dispose of it properly.Do not compost bramble root, bindweed or ground elder — they regrow from fragments in a home compost heap. Bag or take them to a garden waste facility.

Tips

Clearing is easiest in late winter when growth has died back and the ground is workable but the plants are not actively growing.
Ivy on a sound wall does little structural harm, but it damages weak pointing and blocks gutters. On a tree it competes for light rather than parasitising it.
A single season of persistence usually finishes it. Giving up halfway means the roots recover and you start again from the beginning.

Common mistakes

Cutting the top off and stopping there — The roots hold enough energy to regrow repeatedly. Either remove them or keep removing the regrowth until they are exhausted.
Composting bindweed, ground elder or bramble root — They regrow from fragments and you spread them across the garden with the compost.
Pulling live ivy off a wall — The rootlets take the pointing and render with them. Cut the stems, wait for it to die, then remove it.

Questions people ask

How do I permanently get rid of brambles?

Cut back and dig out the woody root crown, then return every few weeks to remove any regrowth. A season of persistence exhausts the roots; a single clearance does not.

Does ivy damage walls?

On sound brickwork with good pointing, very little. On weak or crumbling pointing it works into the joints and makes it worse, and it blocks gutters. Cut it at the base and let it die before removing.