The 99% Eradication

We've been battling our ivy since the spring.  Sweet Hubby has fought valiantly with it.  We've covered it in vinegar.  The vinegar was working well, albeit very, very slow.  I admit, I wanted slightly speedier results.  So, Sweet Hubby and I talked.  We looked at the hard, cold numbers.  The ivy was a rectangle of massive proportions-267' x 15' which meant 4,005 sq. feet of ivy.  That's a lot of ivy.  And would require a lot of vinegar.  No matter how cheap we could get the vinegar, that's a lot of money to spend on vinegar.  While we were getting estimates on tree trimming, we had the contractors give us pricing on ivy removal.  It wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper than hundreds of gallons of vinegar, many months of Sweet Hubby's Weekend Ivy Removal Service, and the ability to start using that area. We took the plunge.  Away went the ivy! 

The Wonder Kids had to watch.  You can't have motorized equipment of any sort on our street or in earshot without them having to watch and supervise.  The chairs are always pulled out, along with snacks and drinks.

The Bobcat with scraper attachment and puller (?) attachment.  It was on tracks so it was easy to maneuver around our trees.

Look, Ma, no ivy!  

One of the best reasons to have the professionals take out the ivy occurred early in the fun.  While making the initial scrapes, the Bobcat driver came upon a large copperhead.  Later, he ran over 2 small copperheads.  In my estimation, that alone justified the costs.