Most of the damage ivy does to a wall happens when somebody pulls it off, which is why we look at what it is holding before we price the job.
growth has stopped and nesting has generally finished
the check governs the date, not the calendar
what the ivy is growing on decides the method
one to sever and check, one to lift the dead growth off
no felling, dismantling or climbing
we describe what we can see, not what a wall needs
Ivy removal is the ivy severed at the base, the root grubbed out where we can reach it, and the top growth left to die back before it is lifted off the wall, fence or tree by hand and taken away. Cutting the base first is what makes the lift safe, because live ivy grips and dead ivy releases.
Against pulling it off yourself
The RHS position on ivy's aerial roots is that they often only cause damage when they are removed with force. A weekend spent hauling live ivy off a wall is the fast option and the one that takes mortar and paintwork with it.
Against cutting the top off
Severing the top growth and leaving the base buys a season, because the plant regrows from what was left in the ground. Grubbing the root out where it can be reached is the part that decides whether we are back next year.
Against doing nothing
Removal carries its own risk to the surface underneath, so doing nothing is sometimes the honest answer rather than the lazy one. That is the reason the survey comes before the quote instead of after it.
Evergreen ivy is dense cover in every month of the year and birds use it, so no date is safe on its own. The offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 attaches to a nest that is in use or being built, not to a time of year, and the RHS instruction is to check for nesting birds before any work to control or remove ivy. Every job gets that check immediately before we cut, and an active nest means that section waits until the young have fledged.
Ormskirk's historic core is old building stock. Two conservation areas cover it, the town centre and Ruff Lane, and Ruff Lane holds some of the oldest surviving buildings in the town. Around the market streets the gardens are small, walled, and long and narrow behind a shallow frontage. Soft old mortar is exactly where pulling ivy off does harm, so the survey comes first. Out at Aughton the round is large plots and mature boundaries, where the ivy is as often up a tree as up a wall.
It sits alongside the rest of our garden services in Ormskirk, and is often booked with regular garden maintenance. The ground changes across the patch — see Ormskirk.
Wall, fence, tree or ground, how old the surface is, how far up it has gone and how much of the base we can reach. This is what the price is built from.
A visual check of the growth to be cut, made immediately before work rather than days earlier, and repeated on each section as we open it up.
Before every cut
The stems are cut through at ground level and the root grubbed out where it can be reached by hand, which is the part that decides whether it regrows.
Live ivy grips and dead ivy releases, so the top growth is left in place until it has died off rather than hauled down on the day.
Several weeks
The dead growth is taken off by hand, the surface behind it swept down, and everything cut is removed from site.
How it is priced
By height and reach, by what the ivy is growing on, by how much of the root can be got at, and by the volume coming off. A run along a low fence and the same length up an old wall are not the same job, which is why the price follows the survey rather than the phone call.
The commonest mistake
Live ivy is still gripping, and the RHS notes that aerial roots often only cause damage when they are removed with force. Taken off in that state, the ivy brings whatever the roots were holding with it.
Regrowth
Cutting the growth away makes an immediate difference and changes nothing underground. Where the base is left, the plant comes back from it, and the same wall is covered again in a season or two.
Winter
The nesting season is a proxy, not the rule. The RHS gives March to August but says it may last longer for certain birds or those with multiple broods, and evergreen ivy is cover all year, so a December date does not remove the check.
What else is in the corner
Ivy that has been left alone for years often shares its corner with other things. Knotweed identification and treatment is specialist work, so the position here is to identify it, stop, and refer it on rather than cut into it.
This is the general position, not a decision about your property. We confirm it with the authority named above before we quote.
Dan came and did a day clear up on our garden, he then scarified, fed and seeded our lawn. We then booked him to come back, put down sacking, edging and stones. Dan works hard from start to finish and leaves your garden clean and tidy, taking away debris. My daughter is getting married on Monday so we are having a garden party, we are now party ready! Thank you 😊
Dan was very reliable , efficient and got the job done to a high standard. We are very pleased with our garden.
Highly recommend, pays great attention to detail, with excellent knowledge and skill. Very reliable and will give you a bespoke service tailored to your needs.
Dan was fantastic! My garden was in a bad way and now it looks incredible! Can’t believe how quick he was and what a fab job he’s done, also very reasonable price considering what he was faced with. Would 10/10 recommend.
Booked in with Hardman Horticulture to get on top of a garden that had been somewhat neglected for many months - Dan was able to communicate effectively around availability, provided a fair quote for the work, and turned up when they said they would. Very pleased with the results of the initial visit and have communicated intention to re-book for further garden work. Highly recommend!
Very good at maintaining my gardens and reliable
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