No matter what I do, the ivy just KEEPS coming back and killing everything else in my garden

[mopinko]

9. personally, i think the idea that it is bad for houses is based on misperception.

when you pull ivy down off a brick house, chips usually fall. => the ivy did it. except that without the ivy there, the chips would fall a little at a time, and you wouldn't notice. in the meantime the ivy is protecting the mortar from sun and wind.
i recently had my house tucked, and i will bet $10k (ha) that no one could now point out where the main trunks were. there is no sign what so ever on the bricks. there was not really any sign in the mortar. in fact the worst wear was where there was no ivy.
"common wisdom" dies hard.