No, you can’t compost ivy – well, not straight away.
Ivy has a tendency to grow and grow – and being put in the compost heap doesn’t really change that – so if you put it in your usual heap, it will quickly take root and take over.
It’s better to rot it down separately (in a black bag or the like to cut out the light) and then add it to the compost heap when it’s mulch. It’ll probably take a while though so if you’ve not got a lot of space, or if you’ve got a lot to get rid of (and that’s easy with ivy!), it’ll probably be best to use your local council’s green waste facilities: their industrial composting processes will break it down quite quickly.
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Thank you for your advice. It has been most helpful
To speed up decomposition, I run my lawn mower over my light garden clippings, which shreds them quite finely (in both senses of the word), before adding them to my pile. I wonder if ivy shredded like this would take root or not?
Hey, do you think it can be composted after breaking it down in a garden shredder?
This advice was helpful to me too!
As I feared – ivy quick to respond and grow. Wondered about composting green then drying and burning the stems. Anyway it can all go in black bags for now. Thank you for your advice.
How long exactly would you leave the ivy in a separate bag before transferring it to the compost bin? Days, weeks, months?
I had a lot of ivy that i pulled out of the ground. I piled it up and ran over it several time with my mower. I then piled it up with shredded fall leaves and it composted fine.
I have already added ivy to my compost heap – is it safe to use the resulting compost to grow my salad & veg in?