As always, when using pesticides, read and follow label directions carefully. It's effective, inexpensive and easily obtained. Once the ground ivy has been effectively controlled and an healthy lawn reestablished, the home gardener needs to use good mowing, fertilization, watering, and cultivation practices to maintain a dense, healthy, competitive stand of turfgrass which should help discourage future invasions of this aggressive weed. The best way to control ground ivy in flower and vegetable gardens is by hand pulling and hoeing. The key to effective control of ground ivy in gardens is persistence.
ISU research does indeed show that the home remedy for ground ivy works.
These unanswered questions indicate a need for more study in this area. Home owners will usually receive a caution to ensure that they apply it at the recommended rate. The scientific process can sometimes be a long and winding road, much like the long and winding path of a stem of ground ivy. But research is beginning to untangle the thicket of unknowns about borax's effect on lawns. In the meantime, homeowners do have options in their fight to control ground ivy.