Killing Ivy

The answer, BFA, is Yes. If you have cut through all the lower stems and also removed the roots from the soil then the upper stems of Ivy will die. Secondly, the Ivy only clings to Trees, etc, it doesn't penetrate into the Tree itself so it is not parasitic in that way. Ivy is an evergreen so it might take at least a month before you see the Ivy upper growth look like it's dying. I saw Ivy that was completely covering the Gable End of a Cottage in Manchester and that the owner of the Cottage had had a mammoth job of cutting through the thick stems of the Ivy but then it took over a month before the Ivy showed signs of dying off.

Well, what will happen is the the Ivy leaves will either turn a 'orrible brown and drop off to the ground or dangle from the stems. I'm sorry to say that, unless anyone else knows of another method, the only way to remove the Ivy, when dead, is to pull it off the Tree. Not having a pic of the Tree, and how bad the Ivy growth really is, I can only suggest you pull off as much as you can, Al, without doing yourself or anyone else an injury and then as it dies off see how bad the remaining dead Ivy looks. The dead stems might actually blend in with the Tree but otherwise they will need pulling off as, unfortunately, the clinging stems do not just fall off.