I have killed enough plants to consider myself an expert horticulturists. I plant tulips in my very aggressive wish I didn?t have it ivy. They do extremely well and for the time they bloom are beautiful. Then I plant dahlia but before I do, I clear a eight each circle from the spot I put the new plants. I also run a little stick by the dahlias some to brace them, some so I can identify they coming back the next year so that I can clear the ivy back. Note I am 75 and have little else to do so if you are busy person I would suggest you remove the ivy which is a huge challenge and find a more controllable ground cover.