5 cut the ivy stems close to ground with loppers.
Get dead vine off of siding.
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3 scrape siding to remove dead branches and dried leaves.
7 in spring brush herbicide onto leaves of ivy stem to kill plant.
Use shears to clip the main vines level to the ground or as close as you can get.
It needs to be properly cleaned and stains removed to keep it from looking dirty and dingy.
Look for the main vine shoots.
If you leave the suckers too long they ll rot oxidize and harden.
If you think pulling the vines off your structure will do more harm than good first kill them by cutting them to 4 to 6 inches above the ground.
Remove a chunk of the stem so there s a gap between the stem and stump of the vine.
At that point they ll be impossible to remove without damaging the siding.
A power washer took off some from the steel siding and didn t hurt the siding but i used a knife to remove it.
If you are paying for labour it would probably be cheaper to replace the siding.
Be sure to wear gloves if you do this because tsp is caustic.
Now if you are still bent on having some ivy just do what i do and go to dollar tree and get lots of those 1 00 strands of ivy and push pin them wherever you want.
There is not even a trace of the gripers from the vine and no paint missing.
Vinyl siding may appear maintenance free but if you are the proud owner of a home with siding you have already learned that it simply isn t so.
Best to pull it off.
Sorry to say i found no easy way.
Pressure washing is appropriate only for wood siding when you don t care whether any paint or stain comes off.
Don t leave the dead suckers on the siding for more than two or three weeks.
You really don t want the insects getting into your roof sheaves and other structure from that ivy.
They can creep between masonry and stone joints under vinyl siding and into the mortar between bricks.
If you ve let the vine wilt most of it should come off as you pull but there will inevitably be sap discoloration on the siding left after the vine is gone.
4 sand the siding with orbital sander to remove stubborn ivy stains and residue.
Vinyl siding requires care to keep it looking its best.
Don t tug at the ivy suckers until they have turned brown and withered an indication the ivy plant is dead.
Step back from the wall and examine the growth of the vine at the base of the wall.
Pamela your husband s right.
You may be able to clean most of this off by scrubbing with a solution of tsp and water.
Pulling live suckers can damage the siding and leave remnants of the vine on the wall so wait until the plant has died back.
I ve had ivy growing on stucco and steel siding.
