Question
We recently bought a house with a lot of ivy in the yard. It appears that there have been tall weeds growing through it. I would like to make the ivy healthy while killing the weeds. I tried to walk through and pull what I could, but it grew right back. Does conventional lawn fertilizer work on ivy? Will any of those weed and feed products hurt the ivy? Any other sugestions to make the ivy healthier and help it propogate further while eliminating the weeds?

Thanks

Answer
Good Morning Gary:
I can only assume you are referring to English Ivy. English Ivy should be planted in shaded locations that are protected from winter winds and sun.
English Ivy ground covers should be mowed with a mower set at its highest setting in the early spring. Fertilize and water immediately after mowing. Fertilization of ground covers is ideally based on soil test analysis. Otherwise, a general recommendation is 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of 16-8-8 analysis fertilizer per 100 square feet applied annually in the fall or early spring. The more dense your ivy is the better it will be for keeping down the weed population.

Below you will find a number of web sites that will help you maintain your ivy. Unfortunately there are not many options in regard to weed control other than what you are already doing.

Ground covers for the home landscape ( look at maintenance section for weed control ).
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1050.html

The big three ground cover diseases:
http://www.ipm.msu.edu/CAT01_land/L07-13-01.htm#3

English Ivy Disease Fact sheets:
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/treeshrub/englishivy.htm

English Ivy General Information:
http://www.midwestlandscapeplants.org/plantdetails.cfm?speciesid=604

The web site below is in regard to a preemergence weed control  (Preen) that inhibits growth of weed seeds. It is available in most garden stores. You might want to try it on a certain area and see if it would be worthwhile to experiment further. It will have no effect on weeds that are already growing.
http://www.preen.com/newpreen/index.jsp

I hope I have helped.
Floyd McMahon