Homes with ivy growing on them are absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, what that ivy can do to deteriorate a home is not so beautiful. Ivy growth can also be a negative factor when selling a home. Not everyone appreciates it. Removing ivy growth in the fall months is part of home maintenance. It can be a very difficult task. This is due to the clinging sucker feet that enable ivy to climb up the house.
Ivy is extremely hard to remove from wooden siding. This is because the suckers that hold the ivy to the house actually grow into the grain of the wood. Once the ivy vines have been pulled away from the house it may appear stained. The stained look is actually caused by the sucker feet left clinging to the wood.
Let's start with prevention. Of course, the best prevention is not to have the ivy in the first place. However, if you like the look, why not utilize trellis for those climbing vines? A climbing vine will take the path of least resistance. Trellis is much easier for it to climb than the siding. Place trellis slightly away from the wall for the ivy to climb on. In the fall, you'll be removing dried ivy from the trellis, not your wall.
That technique is good for next year. What if you already have climbing ivy to deal with? Remove all the ivy you can by hand. Hopefully, all that's left is the sucker feet. You'll have to kill them in order to remove them from the wood. This is why prior attempts at scrubbing may not have worked.
If you prefer to avoid chemical usage, use boiling water or a steam cleaner for ivy removal. Naturally, the steam cleaner is the easiest option. However, you can heat water to boiling, then pour or spray it on the siding as well. Either method will prepare the ivy for easier removal. Then simply use a scraper to pull the ivy sucker feet from the siding.
In the event that this doesn't work, try a stronger, natural weed killer. Vinegar will usually kill stubborn sucker feet to loosen their hold. Rubbing alcohol is another effective method. You can also purchase natural weed killer at your local home improvement store. Simply spray with any of these solutions and scrape siding clean to remove ingrown ivy.
If none of these methods work, you may have to resort to using sandpaper. A little touch up painting may be necessary. However light sanding is very effective. Light sanding not working? As a last resort, you may have to sand thoroughly and re-paint the entire area.
wilkersoncasnbizvjh Community Member 
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